


Pictures

by lightalwaysbreaksthedark (ginger_rae)



Category: Jurassic World - Fandom
Genre: AU, Clawen, F/M, Fluff, set in New York City
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-08-27 08:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 39,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8394280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginger_rae/pseuds/lightalwaysbreaksthedark
Summary: An AU. Claire Dearing happens to meet Owen Grady in a city full of people. He is a photographer and she is the editor in chief of a magazine.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos are always welcome. You can also ask me any questions if you wish at my tumblr page:
> 
> lightwillalwaysbreakthedark
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

“Claire the photographer has arrived” A rushed voice called out into the open space. 

A young red headed woman looked up from behind her phone screen only briefly to see where the voice calling her name was coming from. “Okay thankyou Zara” She replied to her preppy British assistant before returning her gaze back to the screen. She didn’t even acknowledge that two people were approaching her, the screen far too captivating to look away. She was wearing a navy blue dress the fabric draping over her slim body so perfectly and tucking in at all the right places while her beautiful auburn hair sat just below her shoulders falling perfectly to frame her face. 

Her name was Claire Elizabeth Dearing, and she was the editor in chief of one of New York’s most up and coming magazines. Four years ago she had a stable job with countless opportunities to climb the ladder. She had just graduated with her honors and a business degree from Harvard and her life was panning out exactly how she imagined it would. Her family however thought she was far too career driven, even though it was their upbringing that made her exactly the way she was. Her sister Karen; ten years her senior was always fond of telling her she was more devoted to her career than her happiness. 

So when an old high school friend came to her with a proposition to run a magazine in the digital age with no investors, no bakers, no journalists, and hardly any funding of course she quit her steady job and said yes. She said yes to shut them up. She was too stubborn for her own good. She may have said yes to prove a point but it didn’t mean she wasn’t going to work her ass off and make the magazine into something. And she had, she poured her whole life into making it work. It did occur to her that it wasn’t exactly what her family meant when they said she needed to slow down and enjoy life. But she wasn’t going give anything less than one hundred and ten percent. ‘Tribe New York’ was her baby. It had been running for four years, things started off a little slow but when Claire took over as Editor in Chief it went into hyper drive.

When she finally looked over the top of her phone, her fashionable glasses sliding to the end of her nose, she was taken-a-back by the man standing in front of her. He was definitely not who she was expecting. He was all muscles and tanned skin his cream coloured tee gripping to his skin and extenuating his pecks. He wasn’t clean shaven a few days of growth spread across his jaw his eyes were sea green and friendly. He was handsome there was no denying it. 

Her assistant Zara, left the second she had shown the man over to where she was standing, and left them floundering. Claire was more preoccupied with what was happening on her phone to properly address him and it left the man questioning whether he was even in the right place. “You’re not Barry” She stated with raised eyebrows once she had clicked off her phone screen. “No he’s taller” The man joked with a tone in his voice that was calming and one corner of his mouth curved upward. “Owen Grady. Barry is stuck in Washington he sent me instead” He explained and extended his hand for her to shake. She took it, her slim hand sliding into his clausal one. Something happened at their touch, something that kept them linked in their small embrace longer than average. It didn’t go unnoticed by either of them when their hands slipped away from each other. Eyes scattered and nervous as they stepped another step back from each other. 

Owen Michael Grady was a photographer. It was in his blood, from the age of six when he first picked up a camera. His dream was National Geographic; he was gifted a year’s subscription to the magazine every Christmas without fail. He was captivated by it, his bedroom walls covered in clippings and posters from the photographers he admired so much. He was never caught without a camera in his hands, chasing around his family to capture candid moments. 

Despite his early struggles in academia he earned himself early admission into collage and learnt his trade. He was almost beside himself when he learned that Nat Geo was running a junior scholarship program. He was accepted, fighting for a place within its hallowed halls against five other keen novices. His passion and enthusiasm shined throughout the six months and he snagged himself the job. He lived the dream for six years, travelling to places he didn’t even know existed until he was there. His life was all he wanted it to be until it wasn’t. Which had lead him here.

Quickly the young woman who had let Owen into the building and cleared him to enter the New York rooftop, Zara he presumed was beside them again, this time with her arms full of papers and clothing samples. “My bad I thought I told you” she stutter shuffling her feet to keep her loot securely in her arms. “Okay well Mr. Grady you can set up where ever you like” Claire told him gesturing to the surprising space of the roof top. “Owen” He corrected her. “I didn’t catch your name”. She was looking at her phone again, which annoyed him but she was mesmerizing and had his full attention even if he didn’t have hers. Finally, after a few seconds of silence she looked up from the screen with a fleeting smile and gave him an answer “Oh Claire, my name is Claire”

[---]

This was an important shoot. Claire had spent months in talks with the designers from the ‘House of Chanel’ to be the first publication to release their new range sunglasses, which to most doesn’t sound like much of a big deal but in the publication one it was. This wasn’t the first major brand to be featured in Tribe but it was another step forward. Tribe wasn’t about big names and luxurious life styles but it certainly didn’t hurt to have the endorsement. 

There were four Chanel representatives, five models, seven of her own staff and three production assistants that she had to look after, most of which required her full attention. She hadn’t had a moment to catch a breath especially after sharing the information about the new photographer. But under all of the stress she never broke a sweat, this is what she lived for. 

Claire couldn’t help but watched the photographer set up from where she sat looking over concept sheets with the Chanel people. That’s when she noticed his limp, it wasn’t completely obvious only a slight twitch when he walked and he didn’t bend his right knee when he leaned down to pick up his equipment. She tried not to stare but he was an anomaly in her day something so unexpected that she felt her gaze wondering in his direction every few seconds. 

[---]

He’d done it in collage to help pay his tuition but this wasn’t what he was about. Shooting editorials, weddings even family portraits. His heart wasn’t in it. The models weren’t stick thin at least but they were that obvious kind of pretty that if he was honest bored him. The scene was incredible on the roof top of a ten story building looking out over the west side of the city. The red head floated throughout the photoshoot like she owned the world, even the models were solely under her command. He didn’t know what her job was exactly but it was easy to tell she was in charge. She had the whole place under her control without it feeling like she was unapproachable. She was beautiful, more so than the models in his opinion; the sun bounced off her hair and her dress highlighting the blue in her eyes.

The models did what he told them to; their costume changes giving him time to move his lens beyond the charade in front of him and snap the surrounds of the roof top. He was lucky enough to snap the sunset beautiful shades of orange covering the sky. He couldn’t control it but the red headed woman had caught his eye and he felt himself pointing his camera in her direction more than once. 

She didn’t notice, which he was grateful for but through his magnified lens he could see every freckle and crease across her face. Every mark was perfect, she never smiled but that didn’t matter. 

As the shoot came to a close Owen dealt mostly with Zara the assistant, Claire’s phone permentantly locked to her ear and when it wasn’t she was dealing with one of the assistants. He wanted to talk to her again but never got the chance. He still had the photo’s; his  
property until they were signed over to Tribe. 

[---]

Claire was always the last to leave the office, Zara would often stay back and wait for her but even she reached her limits before Claire was quite ready to leave. Zara had said good bye quite some time ago, leaving Claire to it with the office empty, just a few lights flicked on and the radio to keep her company.

There wasn’t a sound other than the tapping of Claire’s key board and the soft hum of the top forty coming from her speakers. Her heels were kicked off and legs rested on top of her desk. She was expecting her order of Chinese to arrive soon and her mouth was watering just at the thought. 

The elevator down the hall from her office opened with a loud groan, which almost made her fall off her chair. Grabbing her wallet she sped out of her office almost at a run hoping for her food delivery; while her stomach reminded her angrily of her empty belly. 

“Mr Grady” Claire said with surprise.

It wasn’t the delivery man. It was the photographer from the day before. “Sorry I’m here so late. I wanted to drop this off and I just got back from another shoot” He smiled readjusting his camera bag over his shoulder. “You didn’t have to come all the way down here to deliver the USD card we could have sent a messenger. Or you could have just put them in an email” Claire told him with a sympathetic smile. 

“Owen” He corrected her again, it was becoming quite a habit between them “and I’d prefer to deliver these myself” 

“Well thats very efficient of you” She smirked. Claire had never had a photographer dedicated enough to bring her their photos in person. Most that she had dealt with were all moody ‘I suffer for my art’ types it was refreshing to have stumbled upon on a passionate and kind one. “Well should we have a look at them? My office is this way”

He followed her into her office and Claire pulled the spare chair up closer to her desk so they could both look at the screen. The photos were amazing. Claire had always thought that editorial fashion shoots were slightly boring most of the photo’s looked the same to her, but his were incredible. The angles and natural light made the whole scene come to life.  
“These shots are incredible” Claire gasped as she flick through the hundreds of photos on her screen. “Oh thank you” He said graciously with a sneaky smile. “I don’t believe in Photoshop” 

He talked her through the shots, explaining his methods, how he proffered to use natural light, to be patient and let the photos play out in front of him. He was passionate which Claire could appriate. They sat for a while when Claire’s take out arrived, she was a little embarrassed when the delivery man read out the length of her order, but about but he didn’t seem to judge her either way. 

He offered to leave her to it but Claire put her food to the side instead so they could still look over the photos. She’d never needed a photographer opinion before on the choice of a cover photo but for reasons she hadn’t quite figured out she wanted his. 

“What’s this for?” Owen asked having picked up one of the proofing pages laid out on her desk. “Oh it’s for our health section next issue it’s this place that does healing treatments. Those kinds of things sell really well” Claire told him. 

Owen read over the opening blurb, he stroked his stubble while he did, which Claire was sure he didn’t even notice. “There’s this waterfall in India” He looked to her with his eyes wide. They were a beautiful shade of green which Claire hadn’t taken much notice of before but where hard to ignore when he was right in front of her “It’s meant to have healing properties, people from all over go there to swim in it. You could write about that if you ever need to” He continued to explain. 

“How do you know about healing waterfall’s in India?” She raised her eye. 

“I was a photographer for National Geographic. I shot it once” Owen said softly and put the paper back where he had found it. “Was?” Claire asked noticing the way he had worded his last sentence. “Yeah you know shit happens” He sighed shrugging his shoulders. 

“That it does” She nodded. 

“Anyway I should leave you to it” He got up and put the chair back to where it had sat, before coming back to collect his bag. Claire didn’t get up to see him out but accepted his hand to shake when he offered it. He was almost out the door when her gaze finally broke from the screen. “Umm Mr. Grady would you be available for anymore shoots, we’re always looking for photographers and your shots are amazing” Leaning her arm over the back of her chair she asked him and was hoping for a yes. 

He turned with a bright smile, “Of course. I’m available anytime, honestly” Claire smiled back. “Great well if you right down your details my assistant we’ll contact you”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is basically just lots of cuteness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fare warning this chapter is quite long. I tried cutting it down a little but it needed all of the parts to work. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it :) Feel free to leave comments or ask me any questions about the story.

Owen notice the latest edition of Tribe on the second row of the news stand that sat on the corner of his street. He was on his way to the gym when he noticed the publication in amongst the rags and newspapers. His photo was on the cover, his favourite picture of the day was gracing the front page. He was used to seeing his photos on the cover of his magazine and on the internet, sometimes they would even end up on the news but one of his photo had never been on the cover of this type of magazine. Of course he bought it, gaining him a few funny looks when his gym bag was unzipped and on full display in the locker room. He didn’t care though; they could think whatever they wanted.

When he came back from his session sweaty and muscles tight he didn’t intend to sit down on the hard bench but his legs were barley keeping him up. He was rifling through his bag for a sweat towel his face in much need of a wiping down when the thick magazine caught his eye. It sat there on the top of his clothes and towels completely untouched and he couldn’t help himself. It was hefty 200 pages at least. Tribe did only come out quarterly so the issues were packed to the hilt. The first few pages where typical a contents page and an advertisement but then he flicked over and Claire was there. A picture of her smiling, arms folded; phone in one hand and glasses in the other. It was two pages at the front of the magazine dedicated to her editor’s letter.

He had all intension of putting the magazine back in his bag after flicking through only a few pages but he couldn’t now. The locker room was clear save for an older man happy to keep to himself. So he read her letter. Her writing was flawless, she wrote about nothing to important just what they had been doing at the magazine over the last three months and how the stories they covered had affected her personally. You could tell by the way it flowed that it would be easy for her pen a strong journalistic piece if she wanted to.  It made him smile when it came to a close, even though there wasn’t much there it was a little bit of insight into her life.

He checked his phone after he very carefully placed the magazine back into his bag. There were a few text message from his Dad just checking in, one from Barry about another shoot they had coming up, and also a notification he had some new emails. He usually ignored his emails, but he checked for some reason and there sitting in his inbox was a Tribe address letter. 

 

**Mr. Grady,**

**Are you available for a photo shoot tomorrow morning at 9am?**

**Please Reply A.S.A.P**

**Regards,**

**Zara Young on behalf of  
Claire Dearing Editor in Chief Tribe New York. **

 

He replied ASAP, and yes he was available.

[---]

 

The shoot was at an old warehouse this time; it was a few miles out of the city hidden by a dirt road that lead out to the bay. Tribe was doing a feature about woman working in male dominant occupations, something that Owen was proud to be a part of. Zara met him when he parked the car he had borrowed from Barry. She showed him through the main doors of the factory where he was introduced to a few of the bosses and then the two woman he would be photographing. There was a much smaller crew this time, Zara, two writers from the magazine and him, he hadn’t spotted any flashes of red hair so the likely hood of Claire being there was slim.

They had to have a mandatory safety demonstration and be shown all the fire exits before they were able to enter the working part of the factory. They were also given some ultra-attractive high-vis vest jackets and hard hats which the Tribe staff put on rather gingerly; eyes shifting from side to side as they failed to hide their embarrassment.

Zara gave him the run down on what shots they needed before they wouldn’t be able to hear each other over the machines. She was a lot more assertive than the last time they met, like she was playing her boss’s role and it made it hard for him to get a word in.

“Is Claire here?” Owen asked when she had finally stopped talking. Zara smirked at him and stared for a few seconds her eyes giving him the once over. He couldn’t quite tell if she was being protective of her boss or if she found him amusing but either way it was a little unnerving. “No” She finally said brown eye’s continuing to stare. It was a bit of a blow, he wanted to talk to Claire again wanted, he wanted to watch her command the room, and catch her eye occasionally to have her quickly look away like she hadn’t been looking at him at all,  but she had more important things to do, he supposed.

Zara laughed as she watched the news wash over him. He obviously had done a terrible job of not looking defeated. “You look really disappointed” She chuckled.

He didn’t reply. He couldn’t. He would be giving far too much away if he had said he was looking forward to seeing the editor in chief. Instead he dropped his eyes to the floor and gave a light shrug. Luckily half a second later they were being lead into the factory where you could barely hear your own thoughts let alone participate in a conversation.

It took a little over two hours to get all the shots needed and when he was finally out from the constant hum of machines his ears were still ringing. He didn’t bring to much equipment so it was easy to load everything back into Barry’s car. Zara and the other Tribe employees were huddled together by their company car deep their notes, Owen called out and gave them a wave to let them know he was off, which was met with a couple of scattered far wells. He was almost fully in the drivers seat, the door of the his side still open when he heard someone call out.

“Owen” It was Zara and she had walked over to the car with the writers looking on in interest.   

There was an awkward silence for a moment while Owen looked on to see why she had called him and she worked herself up to say whatever she was going to say. “Claire takes lunch at one, she’ll be at the Tea Room on Lexington”

That was not at all what Owen had expected her to say. He expected her to be telling him to have the photos to the office by tomorrow morning, not the where about of her boss.

“Th- thankyou” He stutter.

“Not a problem” Zara smiled and went to walk away but stoppeded and turned again. “She’s tough but she’s worth the effort” 

[---]

  
It was 11:35am with city traffic and finding a park he would still defiantly have time to make it. What was the place called again? The Tea Room. It was on Lexington.  Owen had no hope of knowing where that was. He’d only ever used the city as a rest stop, he didn’t know it’s fancier side very well. He didn’t frequent galas or dine in Michelin star restaurants he knew the back ally’s and hidden sandwich shops. Therefore, SIRI had just become his best friend.

He got there in the nick of time, there was a three car pile-up on his way back into the city no one was hurt but it backed everything up for over an hour. He thought for sure finding a park was going to take him till midnight (precisely why he didn’t own a car) but with a stroke of luck a car pulled out of their park just as he was driving by.

She was there at ‘The Tea Room’ her phone in her hand like usual. He hadn’t gone in yet but was pretending to distract himself with a novel in the book store across the road. He didn’t want to seem to eager, he needed to let her settle in before he imposed himself on her but he also needed to make sure to get there before she ordered. He was walking a tight rope.

She looked settled enough after a minute or two so he dashed across the road, slightly risking his life on the busy New York road. She didn’t notice him enter, or walk towards her, or even take the seat opposite her. She was buried in the menu and of course her phone was still vibrating with frequent messages.

She glanced over the top of her menu and she saw him but it didn’t fully register until she looked over it again. “So what’s good here?” Owen asked nonchalant picking up the menu while she still gazed at him rather stunned. She blinked a few times and opened her mouth and shut it again before she spoke. “Mr. Grady I didn’t think this was your kind of establishment”

“Owen” He corrected her for the third time now. “and I like the view”

A smile was slowly creeping across her face, one that she was trying to hide but Owen knew was there. She looked down at the menu again trying to avert her  fluttering eyes “I bet you say that to all the girls”   
  
“Only the pretty ones” He said back quickly, his smirk growing wider with every moment that past. She chuckled, which was the sweetest sound he had ever heard and a blush was forming in the center of her cheeks.  
  
“Wow two cheesy lines in thirty seconds” Claire smirked as she looked at her watch for effect.  
  
Owen put his hands up in defeat and let out a little chuckle himself. “Okay, okay I’ll stop if you let me join you”  
  
They paused for a moment, while he watched her internal struggle of whether or not to indulge him. He could tell that she was enjoying their interaction, she wasn’t uncomfortable with him being there, but something in her head was holding her back. He went to get up and tell her he was sorry for intruding on her lunch break up but she opened her mouth to speak before he made a move.   

“The Moroccan salad is nice” She said softly.

The waiter came and took their order and by then Claire had settled into the idea of sharing a meal with him. It was a little awkward at first but after finding a rhythm they slipped into easy conversation. It wasn’t anything deep like childhood or life goals, it was what restaurants they had been to lately and books they would recommend. The conversation didn’t break when their meals came it followed nicely as they sat and ate the incredible meal that had been placed in front of them. 

Her phone buzzed a few times in the middle of one of Owen’s stories. She ignored it the first few times but a the forth buzz, he told her to look at it. She apologized immediately, it was her driver, she had a meeting to get to in ten minutes. He wished that they could have had a little more time together, but he understood so they finished up and she was sweeping out the door.   

He almost didn’t move when she left, but he had never gotten to ask her what he had come to ask. He raced out of the restaurant with its other diners looking on in surprise, hoping he hadn’t missed her. Her car and driver were out the front. The driver in his sharp suit was holding open the back door of the black SUV but she hadn’t gotten in yet.

“Claire” He almost yelled. She turned instantly on the spot her hand bag swinging on her arm. He had to catch his breath for a second the panic and short run strangely taking his breath. “Would you like to go out some time? With me?” He breathed heavily.  

Her smile was brighter than he had yet seen it, her eyes shining in the sun and she nodded. “Yes I would like that. I’d like that a lot”

“Awesome!” Owen shoved his hands into his pockets so he wouldn’t throw them in the air. Thank god she said yes. He wouldn’t have coped if she had said no. She bid him good bye again and climbed into the car, the driver closing the door after her. He watched them drive away smiling like a complete idiot on the side walk. He had a date to plan now. 

 [---]

Claire didn’t know how it happened but Owen Grady had her private number. Her week had been long and stressful the only highlight of her days was seeing his name pop up on her phone screen. She was in the middle of a meeting, one that seemed to be going on for hours without anything actually being achieved. Usually she was quite strict about personal phones in the work place but today, today she was a rule breaker.

The first time she saw his name pop up was ten minutes in, they’d been skirting around the details of their impending date for the past week. Claire too busy to commit to a day or time. Owen had been persistent in the last hour, getting her to finally narrow down a day to meet. 

[Txt Owen]: Come on it will be worth it.

[Txt Claire]: Okay what about Sunday? I was going to visit my family but I can go next week. 

[Txt Owen]: Sunday is perfect, Meet at Masies on 23rd at 7am.

[Txt Claire]: 7am????

[Txt Owen]: Trust me. It will be fun!

“Claire? Claire?” Zara snapped, drawing her boss back into the room. She was holding up two pictures of art pieces that would feature in their modern gallery article. “We need your approval” It was hard to hide the colour that had risen on her cheeks, but playing it down she cleared her throat “The right one, the left one looks like something my six-year-old nephew could produce”

Sunday honestly couldn’t come fast enough. 

[---]

 

It was 6:45 am on a Sunday, way too early to be out and about. They’d planned to meet at a cafe ten minutes from Claire’s doorstep, she was making good time and enjoying the early morning ‘people watching’ as she walked the blocks. When she entered the cafe he was already there his bright smile surround by a few days of stubble. He’d chosen a seat by the open fire, two coffees already sitting on the small table. It was early Autumn, not yet a sharp bite in the air but the warmth from the fire still welcoming in the slight morning chill. They were both soaking each other in while Claire made her way through the maze of tables and early diners. Owen was wearing long hiking pants topped with a green Northface jacket. He was so handsome his outfit reminding her of an even more rugged Bear Grylls. She was dressed appropriately, well she hoped given that she still wasn’t aware of where or what they were doing. Her jeans and plane tee not her usual date outfit. 

Owen leaned in to kiss her cheek when she reached him, which gave her goose bumps all over (the good kind), and then he pulled out her chair gesturing for her to take a seat. “So Mr. Grady what exactly are we doing on this date?” She asked the curiosity had been nearly killing her for three days.   
  
“Well Miss Dearing right now we are going to have breakfast and then I’m going to take you on a tour of the city” Owen told her before taking a large gulp of his coffee.   
  
“You know I have lived in the city for nearly five years” She replied with raised eyes.  
  
“That may be but you’ve never had an Owen Grady tour” He winked “Flat white with almond milk right?” He pushed the coffee he had especially order for her into her hands. Claire nodded unable to wipe the smile he had already put on her face.

They ate a hearty breakfast (at Owens request) for what must have been a long time as the tables around them emptied and filled at a much faster rate. They talked over their collage experiences, antidotes thrown back and forth about what had lead them into their careers. Claire found him fascinating and in turn he was fascinated with her, she’d yet to be on a date were the man found it just as interesting if not more to talk about her life.

He paid for breakfast, even though she had offered to pay her part then they headed towards the sub-way. Claire barely ever rode the sub-way it wasn’t because she was snobby or anything it’s just that she never needed to, she had a driver for work and most of the places she visited were in walking distance or she’d hail a cab, she even owned a car for visiting her family. She confessed when he led them down the stairs that she didn’t know the routes or stops very well but he assured her that he had it under control.

They only went a few stops up and then back up the stairs to the city. The city was still only coming to life, if they had been tourists they would think it was bustling but for New Yorkers it was almost bare. They walked to the end where the concrete meet the bitumen then waited at the traffic lights for the signal that it was safe to cross.   

“So what has Zara told you about me?” Claire asked softly as they waited for the little red man to turn green. “I’ve seen you two conspiring”

He had to drop off his photos a day after the shoot, and of course Zara grilled him right away about the lunch he and her boss had shared. He liked her assistant he could tell she cared about Claire, like she was her emotional guardian or body guard in charge of making sure everything that got to Claire had been filtered first. “Well she told me that you’re a great boss. She said you’re tough on the outside but you care about all of your employees, you just have to get to know you better” He told her with his calm voice making her feel warm.    
  
Claire nodded at the ground a weak smile at her lips. “I’m glad she sees that”  
  
“She also told me not to hurt you”    
  
“Oh yeah?” She looked up at him and he looked at her with a nodded.    
  
“She told me that you were engaged, and now you’re not” Owen said carefully. He was surprised when Zara had told him that Claire was once engaged, he didn’t know why he was surprised, Claire was gorgeous he was amazed she was even single. That’s all the information he had to just that she had once been engaged, he didn’t know for how long or how long ago it ended. He didn’t expect Claire to tell him all the detail right away but he wanted her to know that he knew and she didn’t have to bring it up awkwardly.     
  
“Ah that” Claire nodded while biting her bottom lip. Owen got the hint easily she made it clear that she didn’t want to talk about it so he didn’t press her instead he grabbed her by the hand and walked across the road when the beeping told them it was safe to cross.

Across the road was a small park. It had a little pond and a few park benches and a statue of some sort of historical figure. Owen took a picnic blanket out of his bag and laid it out on the grass by the water. He took out his camera too then laid down and patted the empty spot next to him. Claire laid down next to him; the grass softer than she expected. They lay in silence listening to each other breaths and the city move in it’s fast pace as they lay relaxed. There wasn’t many people about, a jogger would run past occasionally but other than that it was just them.

Claire’s forehead sat touching Owens hair slightly and a welcome breeze blew over them. It was peaceful, she couldn’t remember the last time she had actually spent time in a park and not just jogged through it.

“Look” Owen whispered, slowly lifting his hand to point to a tree past Claire.

Claire opened her eyes and followed his hand to where it was pointing. On the tree about half way down was a small squirrel. It was moving slowly knowing full well it wasn’t alone in the park. The little creature crept slowly down the tree till it reached the bottom. It didn’t scatter of into the near garden like Claire thought, instead went up on its hind legs only making it about as tall as a bottle of coke and smelled the air. Claire looked to Owen smiling, then back to the tree, he had a keen eye she wouldn’t have seen anything if he hadn’t pointed it out.   

The squirrel had crept through the grass up to the edge of their blanket in slow movements never knowing whether to trust the humans or not. It was odd, Claire had never seen a squirrel come this close before she’d only ever seen them scatter up a tree or run across a power line.

When the fury animal was just a few inches away from the foot of the blanket. Owen reached into his pocket and pulled out a nut, laying it in between he and Claire. The squirrel crept closer and closer towards them, which slightly unsettled Claire but Owen was so calm that it made her calm to. He put another nut by the first slowly as the animal crept closer and with a dash the squirrel was at the nuts picking the bigger of them up. He didn’t scare when Owen shuffled to pick up his camera instead nibbled at it like he was putting on a show.

He ate the entirety of the nut then sniffed wearily around Owens camera, he put his front paws on the lens to get a better look, it was as if the little creature was thanking Owen for the food. The squirrel’s way of saying it was appreciated. It picked up the other nuts that Owen had put out without Claire noticing when it was back on all fours and took off in a flash, gone before they could even blink.  

“How did you-?” Claire asked amazed and wide eyed.

“He’s a friend of mine” Owen smiled and clicked a few times on his shutter the camera now pointed at Claire. 

[---]

 

He took her to a hidden book shop next, it’s shelves lined with rare additions and antiques. It was dusty and unkempt but the merchandise was incredible. He showed her to a section filled with old magazines, where there were first editions of Vogue and Marie Claire that where extremely rare to come by. She picked out several that she simply couldn’t leave behind and organized them to be delivered to her apartment. Owen was captivated by an old camera that was protected by a glass case, it wasn’t a first editor or anything but it had to be at least seventy years old. Claire couldn’t see the price tag but judging by the prices of the other items in the case it was expensive.

They were surprisingly hungry by mid-day and Owen was keen to show her his favourite sandwich shop.  A few more subway stops away and a few back streets lead them to the ‘Marino Brothers Deli.’ The staff knew Owen right away the rounded Italian man from behind the counter slapping his hand on Owens back as soon as they entered. The Italian man called out the other employees one who must have been the man’s mother and they all made a fuss asking why he hadn’t been around in a while and asking of course about Claire. They turned to making a fuss of her, when he told them they were on a date, she heard amongst their thick accents ‘she’s a pretty one, how did you get her’ and when Claire asked for something she heard ‘anything for you my dear’.

They were excitable but incredibly kind and knew Owens order off by heart. Claire copied his order but ask if they could make it a little smaller serving. Owen was right the sandwiches were delicious. She was only able to get through about half of hers; and even though hers was smaller the slices barley fit in her hands. Owen didn’t seem to mind eating her spare half.

They just walked for a little while to let the food settle in their belly’s, then went down to the subway again. They went further this time at least a twenty minute ride maybe more then they changed trains for another few stops. They were in Brooklyn when they walked from the underground back up to the city.

He guide her towards the harbour their fingers intertwined. They kept going along when they reach a path that lead around the water until they reached the base of the bridge that connects Brooklyn to Staten Island. He was lucky she trusted him because it did seem a little murdery if she thought about it for too long.

He looked over his shoulder and around the pillar to make sure no one was around and then threw his bag up to a ledge. He pulled himself up next, his knee must of stung a bit, because she notice him hold it a little on the way up.

“What are you doing?” Claire gasped, and he reached his hand down to help pull her up. “What if someone catches us?” Claire was not a rule breaker, she did things like they were meant to be done, she did her taxes on time, she never broke the speed limit and if she were ever questioned by a police officer she would probably have a nervous break down.

“It’s fine, I’ve done it a million times” He encouraged. “Come on the view in amazing”     

She worked herself up and looked around to make sure no was coming again then took his hand and pulled herself up. There wasn’t much room up of the ledge, well not for two grown people. They carefully stepped around so they were facing out to the open water. It was a wonderful view one that she didn’t expect. You could see far to the Island and past out to the ocean. They were blocked from the sun making it easy to see the view in, but it didn’t make it cold.  

Owen sat down when he found a spot nice enough that wasn’t covered in Pidgeon droppings, there wasn’t a whole lot of room so Owen made a spot for her between his legs. Her choices were slim so she sat with her back against Owen’s chest and his legs framing her. He was warm and cozy, her body fitting perfectly into his.

“How did you find this spot?” Claire asked when she was settled in.

“I like watching the ferry’s and the light from the bridge is terrible, so I took my chances under here one day” Owen replied.

They watched the ferry taking its passengers back and forth from the island and other boats come in from the sea. Owen snapped away using her shoulder as a tripod. Every now and then he’d extend his arms to show her and once or twice he turned to camera on them.

A ferry sound it’s horn loudly. Which almost gave Claire a heart attack, and Owen was roaring with laughter. She jabbed him in the ribs a few times with her elbow but he couldn’t stop his chuckling.

“Stop” Claire giggled.

His laughter died down, but his chest still vibrated with a few chuckles. She felt his thumb run softly along the length of her jaw and he pushed gently so she was facing him. Slowly he moved lips closer to hers and when she closed her eyes, she felt the warmth of his lips on hers. It was slow and gentle neither of them where steering it, they just let the moment happen. They broke apart when it was time, both smiling like idiots, and then their lips found each others again.

[---]

 

The sub-way was at its busiest this time round so Claire had to practically sit in Owens lap. They couldn’t really talk with the carriage so full of people, but the company in silence was enough.   

Darkness fell on their journey back. Time had gone a lot faster than Claire had realized. It felt as though they had only just left the café they had met at that morning. She’d never been so comfortable with a person she barely knew before. It frightened her a little bit, but something told her that it was a good thing.

Claire held tightly onto his back pack as they navigated the stairs back up to the city. People flying past them all in a race to get home. “It’s 7pm. That’s 12 hours” Owen told her when he looked at his watch and took the last step up.  

“Twelve hours” She repeated quietly.

People still bustled around them and Claire felt a few swinging bags hit her in the back but all that she focused on was Owen. He rubbed the bag strap over his shoulder a few times and gave a little laugh through his nose. Then smiled back up at her, “If you’re not sick of me, I know a great spot to grab dinner” 

“I’m not sick of you” Claire smiled and took his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are always welcome.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of Claire and Owen getting to know each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has left such kind messages, it means a lot.

This was their third date now, well maybe their second date, going to a barbeque at his friends place to watch a football game maybe couldn’t be classified as one, either way they were on a date. Owen had picked her up from her apartment an hour ago she wore a pretty flowing dress and he wore a nice pair of jeans and a dress shirt covered by a beige blazer. He brought her to a fancy restaurant he’d even made reservations and everything. 

The resutrant was French, it was decorated beautifully with candles burning and sharply dressed waiters, a pianist sat in the corner lightly playing melodies. It wasn’t really Owen’s style but he was trying to please her which made the effort all that more special. The menu was all in French, with English cheats at the bottom for people who couldn’t understand. Claire was fluent in French and German. French from her father, he made sure to get his children French tutors from the time they spoke their first words and German she picked up while at collage, she needed a break from learning the same things day in and day out so took up learning German as a hobby (and it came in handy when running a magazine).

Owen surprisingly knew a bit of French too. He wasn’t fluent by any means but he knew enough to get by. 

“Le Gigot d’Agneau that’s Lamb” Claire clarified for him, when she noticed him carefully studying the menu.

“En Savoir”

“You speak French?” Claire looked up surprised.

“Not really, I know enough to get me by, I spent four months in the Himalayas with three French guys” He smirked and continued on with the menu.

The waiter took their order, Claire ordered the duck and Owen something with seafood, he topped up their classes of wine and left them again. It took half an hour for their meals to arrive but it didn’t seem long at all. They were good at talking to each other, conversation flowed freely and there were never any dips or awkward silences. Something had been playing on Claire’s mind, ever since Owen had mentioned that he once worked for National Geographic and now he did not. She assumed it had something to do with his leg, it bothered him every now and then. It was easy to tell but, he was far from incapable. She wanted to know what had happened, but until now she hadn’t been brave enough to ask. “So your limp, I’m guessing that’s the shit that happened?” She asked softly after their meals were placed in front of them and glasses filled once again.  


“You noticed that huh?” His husky voice answered her with a slight cough from the gulp of red wine he had just swallowed.

  
“I’m an observant person”

He gave a small laugh then looked down to his plate and pushed around a piece of potato with his fork. “I was in Iceland, I’d been there for six months documenting a pod of Orca’s you know Killer Whales, Free Willy and all that”

“I know what they are” Claire couldn’t help but chuckle at his explanation. Maybe she didn’t seem like the nature type, but she loved a good documentary.       

“Right, well I’d spent six months with them, I’d been with them every day and they were just incredible. We were up in this unzone area and the laws there on whaling and fishing aren’t as strict, there’s cultural allowances. Anyway one of the young Orcas got caught in a thick net. The fisherman were banging the water with oars it was chaos, the Orcas were all so distressed. You see they have such tight family groups most of them stay with their mothers their whole life’s. We’re not meant to interfere we’re meant to just sit back and observe” He paused. “But I couldn’t let this baby be collateral damage or sold off to a zoo. So I got into the water which was _fucking_ freezing by the way and the Orca’s somehow knew I was there to help, it was incredible they were protecting me from the people with oars and spears like I was one of their own. I had a knife and got the little one free but as I did the boats moved and it spooked him I got hit by a tail and thrown against the of the boat and my leg was pinned by a heavy buoy” He sighed. “Anyway that’s my sad story”  


“Oh god! Is the whale okay?” Maybe right now she should have asked if he was okay but she could help be pulled into the story and want to know more. His story telling was so vivid she could practically see the scene played out in front of her. 

“They’re technically not even whales they’re part of the dolphin family, but yes they’re all fine, I get photos from friends over there, they keep me updated” Owen nodded and took out his phone to show her some of the photo’s he had collected. She took it happily and flicked through the hundreds of pictures in his camera roll.  

“And your leg? How bad was it?” She asked softly.   

“It’s not screwed for good there was some ligament damage and my knee was pretty messed up but I’m told with physical therapy I should regain full function”  
  
It was easy to see the relief in his eyes when he talked about the chances of his full recovery. The biggest injury Claire had ever earned her a week in hospital and a month off school so she totally understood feeling a little incompetent, that’s why it was also easy for her to see that it was hard for him to talk about. “So did you leave because of your knee or were you fired for interfering with the animals?”

  
“Umm, officially I was fired for going against their” He brought his arms up and moved his fingers into air quotes “Code of Ethics. But unofficial there’s a spot there for me if I can get my leg fixed up” He explained scratching the stubble on his jaw and looked as though he was thinking of the events to himself, then he flicked his eyes back to her. “So what’s your sad story?” Owen asked Claire with his voice a little softer than usual.

“My engagement?” She clarified with a sip of her wine. She waited for his to nod before she continued “Well long story short; he cheated on me”

Owen looked more concerned than even she had, when she found out that information. His face stiffened and he paused in the middle of taking a bite of his fish. “I’m sorry” He breathed.

“It’s not up to you to apologize, but thank you I applicate it” Owen could tell that it was a touchy subject, her whole demeanor changed, before he had brought it up she looked as if she could have taken on the world and now she looked as if it could swallow her up. He didn’t know if it was his body language or her need to get it off her chest but she kept going. “His name is Chace, we met when I first moved to the city, he’s a copy editor. When we first got together he was charming and sweet, we had so much in common. But as Tribe got more successful, as I got more successful and he didn’t he couldn’t handle it. He hated the fact that I made more money than him. But when he asked me to marry him I thought we could make it through, that was until three months later I found him in our shower with his production assistant”

“What a dick” Owen grunted with a gruff breath.

It was still all a bit to raw for Claire. Like Owen’s injury it had only happened six months ago. She still found it hard to walk into her bathroom. She could still see the scene of betrayal every time she cleared the steam from her mirror. “Yeah. You never relise that you’re better off without someone till you are” She said with a feigned smile. In hindsight it was the best thing that ever happened to her, but it didn’t take the pain away. It was painful and a betrayal so deeply of the heart that it left scars. “Do you want dessert?” She used as a poly to change the subject.

“She likes dessert as well, that idiot had no idea what he was throwing away”

She tried so hard to keep her heart guarded but he was good at catching her when her walls were down and his devilish smirk was nearly all the dessert she needed.     


[---]  
 

Owen went to therapy for his knee twice a week. It was a necessary evil something that he endured to hopefully get his life back together. He didn’t like the way he felt before, during and after a session, he didn’t like feeling inadequate, he didn’t like the stigma but he also knew that if he was ever going to get better he needed it. When he told Claire about his therapy sessions, the last thing he expected was for her to offer to come along. But she did. He didn’t know what to think about the offer at first, therapy was tricky for him and letting her see such a vulnerable side of himself so early into their relationship made him a little nervous. But of course Claire, being Claire was persistent. 

The two of them met outside of the Returned Soldiers Gym in mid-town. Owen had never like the fact that his therapist worked out of this particular gym, he’d never served, he didn’t have the credentials to work out there, but Dr. Julia Wilkins primarily worked with wounded service men so the Returned Soldiers Gym it was. Claire was five minutes late escaping from a tedious sponsorship meeting that had run over time. Owen had given her a run down a few days before on what to expect, making sure she would excuse him of any swearing that may occur. She was nothing but supportive and shook off any of his warnings assuring him that ‘she could take it’  

“You look beautiful” Owen smiled admiring the long skirt and light blouse she was wearing while she climbed out of the back seat of her office car. She thanked her driver and Owen waved him off once the door was close. Their lips met briefly when she was close enough and Owen wasted no time in guiding her up the gym steps. He wanted this over and done with. 

Claire giggled lightly and flicked her bangs away from her eyes. “Thank you, you know you don’t have to say that every time you see me”

“My parent’s told me not to lie, so I kind of have to”

His therapist was waiting in a private studio assigned for his session. She was stretching; her well defined muscles easily seen through her brightly coloured workout clothes. She wasn’t a therapist in the sense that Claire expected, more like a personal trainer with a medical degree. There were different types of exercise equipment set up in a sort of rotation system across the mat floor; a skipping rope, step up bench, weights and some sort of stretching device. It was a big room one wall was covered in floor to ceiling mirrors and another with bars sticking out at different heights (for chin ups Claire presumed). The therapist stopped mid pushup when they had fully entered the room, her blond ponytail fell blocking her face. “You finally brought someone with you” Dr. Wilkins cheered when she jumped up and notice Claire around Owens much larger frame.

She was pretty, very pretty and her body was incredible, and she touched Owen. A lot. Claire couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit of jealousy twinge inside her. She wasn’t a jealous human being but when a beautiful leggy blond, feels very comfortable touching your .... human, you tend to feel a tiny bit jealous.  

“This is my girlfriend, Claire” Owen slipped in while Claire was battling her thoughts, with a quick smirk in her direction. It took a moment for Claire to process what he had said, it happened all so fast. He said girlfriend. Their ‘relationship’ hadn’t been labeled yet, well not officially. They had both been thinking it; but neither said it. That little bit of jealous seem irrelevant now and it earned him a blush and a shy smile. Julia didn’t notice their little exchange, offering her hand to welcome Claire with a shake. They returned pleasantry’s, then Julia left them to study the session plan out of ear shot.

“Girlfriend, huh?” Claire asked softly with a smile she was trying to hide.

“Yeah” He chuckled “You’re my girl”  

[---]  
  


The session started off pretty easily just stretches and a run on a treadmill while the therapist wrote down notes. It got a bit more intense when they moved on to the curse. His first task was skipping, and that’s when he started to sweat, by the time they got to the step ups he was drenched. He didn’t like the step ups, at all curse words started to slip out fast at that point. It was easy to tell he was in pain but the doctor didn’t let up.

Claire watched them from a bench seat by the mirror, where Owen had dumped his gym bag and Dr. Wilkins had laid out her progress sheet. Claire was able to spy on the sheets a little without being too obvious. In her notes scribbled to the side amongst his medical details she could make out two sentence. ‘He needs to clear his head before he will be able to fully commit to healing’ and ‘In otherwise good shape’.       

“Claire?” Dr. Wilkins called out, Claire paused with a start. She was reading the sheets but pretending quite well to be checking her emails on her phone. It was the first time she had looked at it the whole session, and the one time the therapist had called out her name. “Can you come here?”

“Oh, okay” Claire agreed sheepishly and a little worried that she had been caught. She stepped out of her heels and onto the gym mat to walk over to them. Owen was laying on the floor his feet propped up flat on the mat and Dr. Wilkins was hovering over him. 

“I want you to help me with something” Said Dr. Wilkins.

The doctor explained what Claire had to do. She wanted her to hold down Owens shoulders while she stretched outhis knee. With his shoulders held down he would be better stretched out but it would also be a lot more painful. Claire was thankful she put on a long skirt this morning when she knelt down on the mat behind Owen head. Sweat was beading on his for head and his face was a little worn but he softened when she leant in closer to him.    

“Don’t you dare head butt me” Claire joked when she balanced her hands on his broad shoulders her face now hovering above his. 

“I won’t I promise, but I might do this” He smirked and lifted his head up to quickly peck her lips.

Claire’s cheeks where bright red but thankfully hidden by her hair falling around her face. Dr. Wilkins laughed and said something about them being cute, but it was short lived when she used the distraction to stretch out Owens leg. His face went tight and breathed out a few curse words that also gave Claire a work out by holding him down.

 

[---]

 

Claire waited while Owen showered quickly and got dressed. He was dripping with sweat by the time he had finished the session she could even see a shine to his socks. He didn’t take long just ten minutes and he was back next to her. He thanked her at least fourteen times since the session had finished and Dr. Wilkins had told him to bring her along to more sessions.

Claire would take the doctors offer up even if Owen had no intension of asking her to come back with him. She had a feeling that by her just being there when he was at his most vulnerable might just help him and Julia Wilkins scribbled notes would become irrelevant.  

“Do you have to get back to work?” Owen asked on their way out. Her car was waiting just outside when the doors to the gym opened, and her driver was already on the side walk with the back door open. Owen chuckled when he saw the SUV, she wasn’t anything if not efficient. “Yeah, I have three more meetings”

“Well will I see you later for dinner?” He asked with a smile, that gorgeous smile that almost made her forget who she was.

She couldn’t help but smile back, he made her a teenager again a giggly, flirty, hormonal teenager. She felt gooey and ridiculous but whatever cloud she was high in at the moment she didn’t want to come down from it. “Yeah I think I’ll see my _boyfriend_ tonight”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are always welcome. 
> 
> You can also find me lightwillalwaysbreakthedark.tumblr.com


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it :)
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has left such kind feedback it means the world.

Owen’s Saturday night was turning out to be pretty damn boring. It was just him, his couch, a case of beer, potato chips and the Seahawks game he’d reordered from earlier in the afternoon. He’d spent every Saturday night for the past two months with Claire and now he was left to his own devices. She had to attend The Annual Small Print Editors Gala, it was held every year at the Met. It was a chance to get dressed up and mingle with editors of varying career successes from across the city and beyond. Claire went every year never missing her chance for networking. This year however she had been dreading it, she had been complaining for a week, trying her hardest to guilt Owen into attending with her. She had asked him with pleading eyes, lips curved into a perfect pout. If it were any other event he would have put on a nice suit and dragged himself along, but he knew in attendance would be some old colleges that he’d been successfully avoiding for the past year, also for the fact that Claire had so casually slipped in early that morning; her ex was going to be there.

It was edging towards midnight the clock ticking ever closer to the twelve at the centre. The game was almost at its end but he already knew the outcome, not being able to control himself he’d look up the score. The knock on the door surprised him, it was impatient yet there wasn’t much weight behind it. He got up wiping the chip crumbs off his chest as he rose. It didn’t take him long to reach the door where he could hear giggles traveling in from under the gap. Giggles that he recognized. He peeked through the spy hole to confirm whether his suspicions were correct and when he had, he pulled the door open with a smirk across his face. His girlfriend was standing there eyes the size of the moon and grin filled with cheek. She was wearing the most beautiful figure hugging red dress with lipstick to match, her hair was pulled up into a loose bun the loose wisps of fiery hair floating around her face. She had abandoned her shoes, the black strapped heels dangling from her fingers.

“About time” she giggled and pushed herself past him into the apartment. He could smell the alcohol on her breath and by the sway in her step he could tell instantly that she was definitely drunk. “Hello, you’re drunk!” He smirked while he closed and locked the door behind him. “No I am not!” She scoff, but as she said those words she stumbled very nearly falling into the side table that sat next to the couch. Luckily Owen had made it to the lounge room and caught her before it got to hairy. “Okay maybe I’m a little drunk” She admitted with another giggle. “So you had a good time at the gala then?” Owen asked trying to hold back his laugh.

“Well, Chase was there” Chase Ryan (Yes that’s his actual name), her ex who’d asked her to marry him then cheated on her. Yeah Owen wasn’t a huge fan of his. “And what happened?” He asked with raise eyebrows not really sure he wanted to hear the answer. “He’s engaged to that cow he cheated on me with!” She huffed “That was the first thing, then - then he asked how I was doing and I told him. I said I was really happy and had an amazing boyfriend and he didn’t believe me” 

Owen raised his eyes and sat on the arm of the lounge “He told you he didn’t believe that you have an amazing boyfriend?”

“Well no, but I could tell. He looked at me all smug like yeah right” She pause plopping herself down on the couch, then she gasped and turned to Owen as if she had a brilliant idea “We should call him, then he’ll know I have a boyfriend. You can tell him how great I am. Then he’ll know”

“How great you are?” Owen repeated slightly mocking her tone. “We’re not going to call him. I’m going to get you some water and something for your head” She looked a little deflated but he knew she’d need something to ward off the effects of her night of indulgence so he walked into the kitchen and collected her a glass of water.  


“My heads fine” Claire called out from the lounge room.  


He walked back over to her and placed the glass of water in her hand.  “Maybe but it won’t be in the morning” and he gestured for her to drink it.

  
She followed his intrusion and drank to full glass then plopped back down on the coach, her bun getting a little bit looser each time she made any sort of movement. “I mean how dare he! How dare he marry that- sorry grandma - that hussy, he’ll probably just go and cheat on her too so serves her right. But I was lucky in the end you’re three times the man he will ever be.” Claire ranted sinking down deeper into the lounge and resting her head back on the top of the lounge with a heavy breath.  


A moment past then she sat bolt upright with a jolt and startled Owen a little where he sat again on the arm of the lounge “We should have sex!” She gasped.

They had been taking it slow. Lots of kissing had happened, they held hands all the time and once Owen’s hands had slipped under her shirt but that’s as far as anything had gone. It was all just timing, Owen could barely think of anything other than getting Claire undressed and into his bed and he knew she wasn’t at all a prude it just hadn’t been the right time yet. Now when she was blindingly drunk and emotionally unstable was not the right time either.

Owen was surprised at her bluntness and shook off her offer with a small chuckle. “No”  


“Why? Why don’t you want to have sex with me?” She huffed with her hands now on her hips, she looked a like a child who hadn’t received the present they had been hoping for on Christmas morning with her plumb with a perfect pout.    


“Trust me I want to have sex with you, but not right now” He told her gently and put his hands softly on her arms and kissed the top of her forehead.  


“Aww whyyyyyy?” She moaned and let her head fall in defeat on his upper chest.  


“Because you’re very drunk” He whispered in her ear and rubbed her arms where they had started to grow goose bumps. “I’m going to help you out of your dress and get you into bed to go to sleep”

Claire nodded and allowed him to take her hand and lead her into his bedroom. Once they were there, she tried reaching for the zip on the back of her dress herself but after stumbling let Owen do it for her. He pulled it down slowly careful not to let it catch. Her beautiful pale skin was glowing in the dull light of the room and her lacy undergarments oh so perfectly rounded her features.

It took all his strength to pull his eyes from her, but he eventually did and took out one of his old t-shirts from his chest of draws for her to wear.  He then went to the en suite to find the spare tooth brush he had somewhere in his bathroom draws. He found it after rummaging through the second draw but when he returned to his room he found her already laying in his bed.     

Owen tucked the sheets in around her and kissed her nose and her forehead and her cheek then her nose again, he heard her say ‘thankyou’ softly and he switched off the light taking the room into complete darkness.  He went back out into the lounge room and turned the television and his lap top off, he then put the chain lock back on the door and switched off the main light. She was lightly snoring by the time he came back, her body already so deep in sleep. He curled himself around her, his body tucking perfectly beside her like they were two puzzle pieces designed to fit together. He slung his arm around her stomach and felt her hand lace with his. He smiled into her hair at the feel of her soft hand on his and kissed the side of her neck one last time before the nights’ end.

 

[---]

 

“Wake up sleepy head” Owen whispered sweetly into Claire’s ear as she lay still in his bed.

  
Owen slept soundly through the night, his body pressed against her, and his arm draped over her stomach while their hands were interlocked. He did get woken up a few times by a leg being thrown roughly over him and hair draping over his face when she wiggled around to nuzzle into his chest but other than that he had slept like a baby.

He woke to her light snores and her chest rising and falling against his. She was still out to it after he laid for twenty minutes stroking her skin softly and watched the way her eye lashes moved ever so slightly with her dreams. He could have stayed there all day, but when the bathroom called his name he decided his time was better spent preparing a meal that would help fight off the hangover she was sure to have.

  
“Ten more minutes” Claire pleaded but was muffled by the pillow she had dove under.

“I made breakfast” He leaned in closer with a slightly gruffer whisper, rubbing her back that was no longer covered by blanket. A hearty groan could be heard through the cushioning, so he had to use a little more bait “And coffee” She swung her legs over the side of the bed at the word coffee and Owen pecked her lips when she fully emerged from out of her cocoon. She was perfect in his eyes, even fresh from a night’s sleep; dishevelled and groggy but still so blindingly beautiful. The sound of bacon spitting reminded him of his cooking on the stove and forced him to stop staring and run back into the kitchen. 

“I’m so sorry I came over. I haven’t been drunk in a long time” Claire yawned as she gently stepped into the kitchen. She was wearing one of his shirts, a long one that came half way down her thighs. It was navy blue but faded from continuous wash cycles, and had the logo of his high school football team the ‘Bay City Cubs’ there were a few tiny holes at the hem but it looked almost brand new on her.    

Owen laughed through his nose. “It’s more than okay that you came over Claire” He said and turned down the heat on the hotplate.

“I don’t remember, but I’m guessing it was really embarrassing” Claire admitted to the floor.

“No, it was really cute” Owen assured her, and left the cooking again to wrap his arms tightly around her, and drop his head to kiss her softly. “And maybe a little embarrassing” 

A scoff from Claire and another kiss and he went about serving breakfast. He gave Claire a serve of two pancakes and four pieces of bacon but left her to do her own maple syrup as he tended to get a bit too enthusiastic. She thanked him multiple times when he joined her at the table and he accepted her thanks with a kiss then told her to ‘dig in’.

He cooked a mean breakfast and was proud of it. Owen finished his plate in about two minutes flat, leaving not even a crumb behind. He had a stack on the kitchen counter ready for seconds and spare bacon still sitting in the pan on the stove so he got up to fill his plate for the second time. He piled two more pancakes onto his plate and the rest of the bacon before he realised he should probably share. So he flicked a few pieces of bacon back in the pan, hoping that she hadn’t noticed and brought it over to her.  

He stood above her with the hot sauce pan in his hand, tongs in the other “Here do you want some more bacon?” He asked but put a piece on her plate even before she could answer.

Her eyes were fluttering when she looked up to him, speaking to him without her having to say and word, then her hand reached up to grab a fistful of his shirt and she pulled him down to her lips. He accepted the kiss gladly and her lips parted just slightly for his tongue. Owen still holding the hot pan moved it further out of the way and instinctively found the table to rest it on. His hands found her back when they were free and encouraged her to her feet. As she rose her hands ran up his defined torso, around his neck and into his hair. They stopped only to catch a breath and then their lips locked again, teeth and tongues crashing together. His hands still on her back ran down over her backside, finding their place at the top of her thigh and he lift her easily onto his hips. She laughed as he adjusted her weight to sit comfortably and he kiss sweetly, the tip of her nose.

He knew the journey to his bedroom without his eyes having to leave hers. Her weight on his hip stung a little in his knee, but it only made him feel more alive. She played with the hem of his shirt as he stepped down the hall and managed to get it over his head while still in his arms. He stopped just before they reached his door and pushed her against the wall, using it as leverage to rid her of her shirt.   

There was nothing underneath save for lace underware, her bare breasts were perky and answering to him. He lifted her higher; eyes wide and hungry and he kissed down her neck and into the valley between her breasts. His skin on her skin was ecstasy they were a mess of fight and lust, beads of sweat already forming on his chest. He pulled them from the wall and continued the trail into his room. When they hit the foot of his bed they fell crashing down hard onto the mattress.  

“God you’re beautiful” Owen breathed which made her hair blow over her face. He brought his hands up to softly to brush the loose strands back behind her ear and their eyes danced together like Gympie’s.

 

[---]

 

Claire woke to the sturdy rise and fall of Owens chest and his warmth made her feel like the sun itself. It had to be at least two hours since they had fallen into his bed, the sun was higher in the sky and the air had grown that slightest bit cooler. His chest was just where she wanted to be but her muscles were aching for a stretch.     

She slipped Owens shirt back over her head and tipped toed leaving his room behind. She had never truly been in his apartment until the night before, she’d stopped by to bring him coffee, and met him at the door as they were heading out but she had never genuinely been inside. She took her time in the hallway first, it was lined with pictures, some of his family and others of either animals or scenery, some were in frames and some weren’t, none of it matched but it was still aesthetically pleasing. She noticed one of her pinned up above a photo of a grizzly bear, the outfit she recognized as what she had worn the day of the Chanel shoot. The day they had met. She’d had a sneaking suspicion that he’d snapped a few photos of her that day. She had caught the way his hands quickly dropped the camera down as their eyes met and the shine the lens would cast when hit by the sun.

His apartment wasn’t messy but it wasn’t clean either, there was a structure ciaos to it, like he lived out of a bag and boxes, no time to nest. He had been doing that for six years he was constantly on the move. He’d barely had time to settle into his New York home, he’d come to drop off his photo’s then would be on to the next great adventure. Until his knee that was.

There were at least ten plane tickets scattered across his coffee table, she noted one from Kazakhstan and one from Chile then what she had come out of his room to find caught her eye. Against the wall by the lounge room window was a glass display cabernet. She’d seen it a few times briefly but had never been truly able to look inside.

It had five shelves lined with, at first count twenty antique camera’s, all of different colours and sizes. They had small name cards in front of them like a museum would display, noting the make, where he had found it and they date he had bought it (Claire guess as the dates where to close to be when they where made). There were other artefacts too from his travels, some telesemes and small carvings and on the shelf at here eye level there was a compass.

She glanced over every shelf reading the place cards until she heard stirring from the bedroom. “Come back to bed” Owen’s husky voice call out from down the hall.

She beckoned to his call and found him ruffling his hair the sheets pooling in his lap “Weren’t you the one trying to get me out of bed a few hours ago?”  She asked and leant with her right knee on the side of the bed she had claimed as her own.

“Those were different times” He yawned and scooped her into a ball and held her close again.       

 

[---]

 

Claire could hear the clicks of Owens shutter as he walked back into the bedroom. There was the slightest bit of light trickling in through the windows as the sun set over the city. She was bare, her lower back draped only by the white sheet of Owens bed. They’d barely left it all day, his bed, they talked for hours, story’s that they had probably heard before but easily heard again just to listen to the others voice. Of course they engaged in some more physical activates as well, there was a passion between them that was hard to fight and neither were willing too.

She was looking through his portfolio, well a version of it; a book that Owen’s mother had made up for him that was filled with all of his photographs, some starting from when he was just a boy. There where little notes to the side of the pictures telling the stories of when and where they were taken, some photos just stuck in with paper clips that had been collected along the way.  

He walked towards her so still in his movements as he captured her laying there in his bed.  

“It’s going to get some getting used to” Claire smiled as she looked up to see him perched on the stool at the corner of his room, his camera still aimed in her direction.

“What?” His shutter went again, this time capturing her face.

“Having someone taking photos of me all the time” She raised her eyes, and he sensing she’d had enough of his lenses attention, lowered it to rest in his lap.   

“It’s my art and you are a masterpiece” He smirked making a dimple in his right cheek.

“Do cheesy lines just come to you or do you look them up in advance?” She had to give him credit he was quick with lines that could make one swoon and could pull it off with his cocky grin.

Owen left the chair in the corner and walked towards her. There was swagger to his walk, that knew how to catch the eye. Leaning onto the bed he pulled the book out of her hands. “I just need a bit of inspiration and they come to me” He said with a cocky grin and fell gently landing on top of her . Her lips welcomed his and again the matter of time seemed to be lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hoped you liked the chapter!!
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always welcome :)
> 
> You can also find me here: lightwillalwaysbreakthedark.tumblr.com


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire and Owen continue to take steps in their relationship :)
> 
> Enjoy the fluffy bits of this chapter because there is a little drama coming Claire and Owens way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and nice comments so far :)
> 
> This chapter is kind of necessary to set up what is to come, so I hope you will all enjoy it!

Owens message bank was completely backed up when he finished his mid-week therapy session. He had ten missed calls all from the same number. Zara. His first instinct was to panic and rightly so, people didn’t leave ten voice message unless there was something wrong. He contemplated calling without listening to one but as he was about to dial he thought he should probably have some context to the impending conversation. Finding the first voice message he brought his phone to his ear were Zara’s voice rushed at him right away.

“Hi Owen. It’s Zara, Claire’s assistant. Would you be able to come and get her? She’s got a fever of like one hundred and ten. She shouldn’t be here but she won’t listen to any of us!” That was all he needed to hear and he gathered his belongings and ran out of the gym giving Zara a quick call to let her know he was on his way.

Typical, the woman was catatonic and refused to leave work.

When he arrived at the offices of Tribe, Zara looked more stressed than he’d ever seen her. Her hair was starting to curl at the bottom her make up nowhere near its usual sharpness. There was a sigh of relief that met him when he reached her desk. Claire must have been particularly testy to have Zara this flustered. They didn’t speak but Owen gave her a firm nod to let her know he had the situation under control.

Claire’s office was stuffy that’s the first thing Owen noticed when he entered it, the second thing he noticed was the mountain of tissues piled on her desk. Strangely Claire wasn’t in sight, usually when he came to visit she was running a meeting in a conference room or sitting at her desk with her cute glasses sliding down her nose but she wasn’t at either of those places. “Zara called you didn’t she?” A dry raspy voice surprised him from his left. When he turned to confirm the culprit he found Claire sitting on her office sofa. She was almost a ghost her skin was whiter than white making her rosy cheeks and red raw nose stand out that much more. She looked pathetic with a blanket covering her shoulders and a tissue box resting by her knee.  She had her iPad sitting in her lap and a stack of papers to her side, but it was clear that work was moving a lot slower than usual.

“Why aren’t you at home?” Owen asked bluntly.

Claire’s eyes where fierce even through the they were weeping “I can’t just go home. I’m, in charge of a large publication, Owen. I don’t do day’s off” She croaked through a dry throat.

“I don’t think you have a choice babe” Owen said trying to be firm but it was hard when she looked so ridiculous. “I know Claire Dearing doesn’t do day’s off, but she’s not superwoman”

“She just has a minor head cold, she’ll be fine” He didn’t reply just raised his eyebrows and marched over to place his hand on her forehead. It was like he put his hand on a hot plate, he almost recoiled but kept it there to feel the full effect of her temperature. He also noticed now that he was closer, that her eyes weren’t her usual beautiful sea blue/green instead they were grey and clouded.

“Well Owen Grady is taking her home” He said trying to copy a little bit of her bossiness, he wasn’t going to let her argue her way out of it.

“Does she have a choice?” Claire asked with fleeting hope.

“No she doesn’t” He raised his eyes. “How long are we going to keep this third person thing going?” Owen smirked and picked up her hand bag and slung it over his shoulder.  
  


[---]

 

They didn’t make it home without taking home several files and drafts, she wouldn’t budge on that “If I have to go home Owen, I can at least take some work with me” she huffed while stomping her foot with the little energy she had left.

It took Owen about ten minutes after they got back to her apartment to realise that Claire was in serious need of a doctor. After setting her up in some comfortable clothes and her king sized bed he found the number of a doctor’s office that did house calls, all while Claire was grumbling at him.

The doctor didn’t take long to arrive, the knock on the door coming just twenty minutes after Owen had made the call. She made the effort to stumble from the bed to the lounge for the doctor’s visit. Her idea of working from home long abandoned and Owen lead the doctor through to lounge room where Claire was struggling to stay awake. Owen tried very hard in his life not to judge people, but this guy. He was quite happily judging this guy. What was he like twelve? There was no way he looked old enough to have obtained a medical degree. He was attractive as well a perfectly chiselled jaw, toned body and giant brown eyes. All features Owen wouldn’t usually notice on a man but this particular man was about to examine his girlfriend.

He introduced himself as Doctor Zachery Philips and got right into the examination all while Owen watched with his arms folded across his chest. Making sure to keep track of where Doctor Heart throb put his hands. It lasted about 15 minutes, he took her temperature and her blood pressure, he got her to follow his flashlight with her eyes, and counted the beats of her heart.

“Well Claire you are very sick, and I’m sorry but you won’t be back to work for at least a few weeks” The doctor told her, with the slightest tone of sympathy and clicked his pen on his prescription pad. “You’re very lucky I’m not sending you to the hospital” He wrote out a prescription and ripped it from his pad, handing it over to her.

Dr Philips then turned his attention next to Owen and explained to him how Claire was very close to having pneumonia and that she by no circumstances was to go to work. He gave him clear instructions on what to do for Claire, that he expected Owen to be the one to pick up the prescriptions and to keep a watchful eye on her temperature. Owen agreed and saw him out and then returned to the lounge room where Claire was sitting looking a little dazed.   

She had been somewhat amusing since he had collected her from her office. She was a little hazy and her sentences got lost from either another thought or a sneeze, her eyes where glazed over and she was blinking twenty times more a minute than usual. Not to mention she was completely pathetic and even opening a door was a hard task.

She was staring towards the hallway where Owen had just seen the doctor out seemingly unaware that Owen had come back into the room. He waved his hand in front of her to see if she was still on the same planet as him. She looked up blinking and said “He was incredibly handsome” with a gooey grin. 

“You have a boyfriend” Owen muttered with a roll of his eye and stomped out of the room to get her some orange juice.

Owen had to leave her for just a little while later that afternoon to collect some clothes and other affects from his apartment. He had made sure she was set up, turning on Netflix and making sure her bottle of Tylenol was in reach. He took a cab which wasn’t usually his style the ten blocks from her place to his apartment.

His apartment was a disaster when he entered it, something he hadn’t noticed before he had left that morning. There were clothes everywhere, he hadn’t done the dishes, dust was piling on top of the cabinets and his small cactus looked a little worse for wear. He wasn’t usually untidy but for the past...he didn’t know how long he’d be there only to fall into bed and then rush out in the morning. Most nights he wouldn’t even go back to his place, just straight over to Claire’s.

He tidied up a little, not much just straightened it up so it wasn’t such a shock the next time he walked in. Then he gathered what he’d need for the time he’d be staying with Claire, clothes, his lap top and camera bag, some other bits and pieces and was back out of there just as fast as he had come in. He took a cab again, this time stopping at the pharmacy and grocery store before heading back up to his girlfriend.

“Claire, I’m back” He said when he closed the door to her apartment behind him. There was no reply. “Claire?” Still no answer. She must have been asleep, he thought and went about unpacking the few bags of groceries he had bought and putting them away in the fridge and cupboards. By the time he was done he’d called out a few more times just to let her know he was there, but there was still no reply. “Claire?” He was starting to get worried now he’d quickly searched every corner of her apartment and he still couldn’t find her. Then he noticed the bathroom door was closed. Squaring his shoulders he ran for the door, but when he made contact he realised that it wasn’t in fact locked. The weight and force of his body hurled him into the tiny room and straight into the basin.

There was a husky gasp and splash of water and Owen turned around to find Claire wide eyed in the bathtub. “What the hell are you doing?” She gasped in a barely auditable tone. “You - you didn’t answer me I was worried” Owen stuttered trying to collect himself as he was slipping a little on the tiled floor.

“I can barely talk” Claire coughed still blinking wildly.  

“Good point” He nodded and was able to right himself to stand. He tidied up the few things he’d caused to fall into the sink and turned back to her. “Are you okay in there?”

“In the bath? Yeah I’m fine” Claire smiled with the closest sound to a laugh her sickened state could manage. “How about you?”

“Well my shoulders a bit sore” Owen shrugged and rubbed the shoulder he had used to break through the door.  
 

[---]

 

“You’re meant to be in bed” Owen said gruffly when he caught Claire out of bed. His deep voice made her jump which caused her to throw the rolled up socks that were in her arms right into the air and they flew to all corners of the room.

Owen had been gone for almost the whole day it was the first time he’d left her alone in seventy-two hours. She hadn’t really gotten much better and it worried him to leave her for such a long time, but he and Barry had a shoot for a recipe book on Long Island booked for months. It was a job for the both of them so he couldn’t back out, they in total needed photos of one hundred and fifty dishes all in the one day. It was for some celebrity; Owen couldn’t remember which one as they weren’t there but their three assistance made sure to bark out some very demanding instructions.

It was hard to be staring at food all day and not be completely starving by the end of it, especially when he had worked through his lunch break to get back to Claire a little faster. Owen was more than happy when it was over and took charge of driving Barry’s car back into the city. He had stopped by the market just down the block from her place and picked up the ingredients for a killer risotto and then crept into her apartment just in case she was asleep. She wasn’t in the lounge room and she wasn’t in the kitchen so he crept down the hall way expecting to find her curled up in a knitted sweater and bed socks, but instead she was at her chest of draws. The second draw down was open and about half of its inhabitants resting on the end of Claire’s bed, while the other half was starting to pile of the top of the draws.

“Owen! Don’t do that!” Claire tried to yell, but it just came out raspy from the voice that was still alluding her.

Owen continued into the room with a smirk and kissed her on the forehead then sat down on the end of her bed next to the pile of folded up pyjamas. “So what are you doing” He asked.

“I’m clearing out a draw for you” She explained nonchalantly and picked up the two pairs of socks that only fell at her feet.

Claire had a way of catching Owen by complete surprise. Their relationship grew without them needing to ever mention its advances, but occasionally when he thought she wasn’t ready for something she would do or say something that would completely throw him, and then look at him like he was meant to have done it weeks ago. Like cleaning out the draw for instance, he had been hiding his spare clothes under her bed hoping that he could one day have a place for them amongst her things. But he never wanted to push.

He had never been in a relationship with someone who had once been engaged or once married. He’d never been with someone who had been through the trauma of such a huge break up. So his plan from the start had been to let her lead. He didn’t want to ask for a draw, just in case it was too soon and he didn’t want to ask for a key to her place just in case that was way over his bounds. But she would do it on her own at the right time for her, and that meant it was the right time for Owen.

“That’s very sweet of you Miss Dearing” Owen smiled and tugged on her hand so she would come closer to him. She sat on his lap when she reached his knees and her weight was welcomed onto his legs. She was still so warm and her skin was soft from the bath she must have recently come out of. She snaked her arm around his neck and rested it on his opposing shoulder then tucked her head in the crook of his neck, her breathing was heavier than it usually was but he was getting used to it and the hot breath that brushed under his chin, tickled his skin like kisses that they still couldn’t have.

“So are you going to get the clothes out from under the bed?” Claire croaked after a moment.

Owen laughed not having realised she knew he did that and gently lifted Claire and sat her down again in the same spot where they had sat together. He crawled on his hands and knees, which stung a little bit, to gather his belongings from under his side of the bed. There was more under there than he had thought, and a belt that he had been looking for, for weeks. Gathering them he stood up with a groan and shook of the little bit of dust they had collected. When slung them down in the draw they fell into a pile of untamed cotton, which he was happy to leave that way for just now.  

“You’re going to fold them right?” Claire asked, with a furrowed brow and worry lines around her mouth.

“Course” He said quickly and opened the draw that he had just closed back up.

 

[---]

By day five Owen was starting to get a little stir crazy. He loved spending time with Claire but he hadn’t used his camera for days besides of course the recipe book shoot a few days before but other than that his camera sat dormant on Claire’s coffee table. He had also learnt that even when riddle with illness his girlfriend could strike fear into anyone. Gaining her stern glare when he pointed the camera in her direction.  

When she was asleep he worked on photos and booked future shoots and when she was awake he’d sit next to her and watch ‘Friday Night Lights’ or help her reply to emails that she was so intent on answering. He tried out some new recipes and finished the book he’d been trying to read for three months but all in all it had been a pretty quiet week. That’s why by day five he was starting to find the small confines of Claire’s apartment even smaller than perhaps they were. They had just finished the last episode of the third season of ‘FNL’ and vowed they’d wait until at least night fall to begin the next season. She was struggling to keep her eyes open when the TV was switched off so he slid himself from where she was resting on his chest before he would get stuck.    

He went out to the lounge room to sort through the photos on his memory card, her papers and draft’s had been spread across every hard service of the lounge room, but from a large gust of wind through the open window they had been blown all over the room. He closed the window and then began picking them up.  With the files now picked up, probably in an order and manner that would give Claire a heart attack he headed to the adjacent room to give them a safe home in Claire’s study.

He’d never been in Claire’s home office before, there had never been a need. It was the complete opposite to her office at Tribe and to the rest of her pristine house. It was a shambles, well by Claire Dearing standards anyway. There where stacks of magazines piled everywhere all of them nearly tipping over. Loose papers covered her desk and pens sat amongst the papers with their lids not clicked back on.

He didn’t mean to snoop but when he put down the files she had brought home with her from work he noticed a yellow manila folder that had the word India printed in hand on the side, sitting on the top of her desk. His curiosity got the best of him and he flicked it open. Inside he found flight details, maps that had areas circled, there were reports (that he only read the tiles of) and clippings from other articles about the waterfall he had told Claire about the day after they met.  

Owen was amazed that she had remembered his short two second comment about that waterfall he had once visited years ago and managed to find it without having to ask of its name. Claire would probably be asleep by now but he picked up the folder anyway and navigated his way to her room while reading over one of the reports. To his surprise she wasn’t asleep instead she tapping on her iPad, curled in a ball with the blankets tucked in all around her.

“Hey what’s this?” Owen asked holding up the curious manila folder in his hand.

Claire looked over the top of her iPad, it took her a few seconds to realise what he was holding and when she did she rolled her eyes in the biggest circle he had ever seen. “You weren’t meant to find that” She said dryly.

“It’s got heaps of stuff about that waterfall in India” Owen replied choosing to ignore the eye roll he earned from Claire.

“It does” She nodded and had to pause for a few coughs. “I’m building up a story one that I can pass by the board to get us over there” She finished clicking the iPad off and placed it on her nightstand.

“Us?” He raised his brow noting her use of words.

“You would be my first choice of a photographer” Claire said with a smirk.

Smiling he sat in front of her on the bed and slung his arm over her to lean on the mattress, her body now between his arm and torso. “You want to go to India with me?”

Claire gave a little laughed through her nose which sounded a like a gentle whistle as her nose was blocked and nodded at him sweetly, “I haven’t been able to get that out of my head since the day you told me about it”

“So, Tribe’s going to feature the waterfall and we’re going to cover it?”

“Hopefully. It will be you and me, Zara and three of the writers” Claire told him.

“That’s awesome!” He cheered excitedly, that was possibly the best thing he had ever heard. They had been wanting to go away together, and now they had the perfect opportunity, although they would technically be working, he’d still be able to show Claire the place’s he’d fallen in love with not to mention that it would be a free trip. “I want to kiss you so bad!”

“No don’t do that” Claire said placing the palm of her hand on his forehead and pushed him back gently. “We can’t get you sick as well. But you have to be cleared by a doctor before they will insure you, so that means you can’t skip out on any therapy sessions. You promise”

“I promise” He nodded taking her pinking and locking his with hers, he then brought their hands up to his lips and he softly kissed her smallest finger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I hope you liked it! 
> 
> There will me more coming soon. Comments and Kudos are always welcome. 
> 
> You can also find me at lightwillalwaysbreakthedark.tumblr.com and feel free to ask me any questions :)


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is were the little bit of drama comes in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote most of this while I had a head cold so I apologise if some of it doesn't make sense. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone, following this story :) I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.

Claire went right back to work the second her doctor had cleared her to, two weeks away from Tribe was like a lifetime for her. Though it still took her two weeks after going back to fully recover. She had a meeting with the Tribe investors board the week after she went back, one that she was nervous about and Owen had never seen her nervous before. She had practised her speech in front of him, with a power point presentation and all. But she had nothing to be nervous about, after hearing her pitch the board gave the go ahead to the trip without her even having to finish. Owen sat by his phone that afternoon watching it for nearly an hour while he was meant to be invoicing clients. Then the text came through ‘WE’RE GOING!!’ with about twenty different emoji’s.

That night he took her out to celebrate, to an Indian restaurant of course. She was still under the weather, but to be given the opportunity to travel together was in definite need of celebration. But then they had to get back to work and back to planning. The board would only permit each member of the team to go on the trip with a full medical, the right immunisations and a physical. Owen was used too that, it was the same at Nat Geo. He was used to blood tests and shot’s, none of that was a problem. 

The problem was Owens leg had been bothering him. Aches and stiffness plaguing him from dawn till dusk. He knew avoiding physical therapy wasn’t helping him and it defiantly wasn’t helping him get cleared for their trip. But he hated it, it made him feel like an invalid, like he was less than human. Constantly being pushed to his limits mentally and physically. It wasn’t helping him. There was probably something more going on with him, no there was definitely something going on, something inside his head. Like perhaps the meeting he had with his old boss at National Geographic, like how he had said to Owen that him going back to the magazine wasn’t a possibility, certainly not in the near future anyway. Owen had never been into psycho-babble he always just got on with it, but that meeting had really messed with him.

He’d missed three sessions now, his therapist was chasing him night and day leaving message after message. He wasn’t worried about her, she was tough but one smirk in her direction and he could get away with pretty much anything. He knew deep down it was probably wrong to exploit her psychical attraction to him, but if it meant ten less step ups, then why the hell not.

He was worried however, about his girlfriend there was no getting out of her line of fire, no matter how flattering his smile. He felt guilty about lying to her, but he was glad that he felt that guilt it would have worried him more if he didn’t. He’d gone to great efforts to make sure she was none the wiser, even leaving her apartment to go to ‘therapy’ and once when she had called he ended it early saying he had to get back to stretching. Of course she would offer to go with him but he couldn’t say yes, not when he felt like a wounded man. Coming home to her helped him, just being with her made him feel better but even she couldn’t break all of his walls down for him. He knew that it was something that he needed to do for himself.  

His phone had been ringing non-stop on the other side of the room discarded under some mail to dull the noise from its constant vibration. It was only Dr Wilkins they’d had a session booked, starting half an hour ago yet he was sitting on his couch editing photos, with a pizza box to his side and beer in his hand. Another quarter of an hour went by with the continuous hum of his phone and the twangs of guilt in his heart that went along with it. He’d forgotten he’d given her a key, they spent most of their time at her apartment so she rarely need to use it. It wasn’t until Claire was standing in front of him, that he remembered the shining piece of small metal that hang from her key chain. Her face said everything, it was every shade of red and her pupils were burning with anger. “So you ARE alive” She said, words tainted with sarcasm.

“How? - aren’t you meant to be at work?” Owen asked still blinking at her sudden arrival.

“The more important question is why aren’t you at therapy?” He was busted! He had been so careful, but she knew. Her face was crushing so much disappointment and all directed at him. His mouth was like sawdust dry and raspy unable to form words. He didn’t need to though, as words stared flowing out of her mouth like a flash flood with a tone just a notch below yelling. She was speaking way to fast, too fast for him to fully take in what she was saying. The words that did hit him were “Your therapist called” He’d been ratted out, the two woman conspiring together.

“I know you’re mad” He thought he’d start with that, openly admitting he was in the wrong would hopefully soften the blow. Claire opened her mouth to speak but shut it again when he gestured that he wasn’t finished. “I know I should be at therapy but you don’t know how it makes me feel. It makes me feel like I’m crippled like I can’t do anything for myself”

She wasn’t very receptive to his explanation instead she stung a hand onto her hip and narrowed her eyes to meet his. “The whole reason you go to therapy Owen is so you don’t feel like that anymore”

“No you don’t understand, it’s hard to explain” He was a little off guard and didn’t have anything clever or meaningful to say and by the way her eye brows had been raised since he started to speak, he guessed it wasn’t enough of an explanation for her.

“You’re right I don’t understand. I think you’re being idiotic”

He huffed out a quick breath and licked the side of his bottom lip, then he raised his eyebrows to the height of hers, “Claire I’m trying okay, I just - I just - therapy isn’t working for me right now”

“Fine” Claire breathed and he saw her roll her eyes as she looked away from him.

He stood up from the spot he had been sitting, ironically it stung his knee slightly at his quick assent and he hoped that Claire didn’t notice his little wince of pain. By the looks of things she hadn’t but she continued to stare with narrow eyes and raised brows. “Claire don’t be like that”

There was a long silence, and neither moved.

“You lied to me” She said in a near whisper breaking the silence but not by much. Her voice was fragile and less sure of herself than the one she had been using before. Their eyes met in a painful stare, hers were glossy with tears threatening to fall but she managed to keep them in. She looked to the ground and took a breath, and when she looked back up her face was as firm and as strong as the one she had on before. “What about India? It’s three weeks away Owen. Do you know how hard I have been working to put this together?” Her tone too back to as it was before.

“We’re still going to go to India okay, it’s going to be fine” He tried to assure her but every time he spoke his words were tainted in her eyes. 

“How? You have to be cleared by a doctor” She wailed throwing her hands in the air and letting them fall heavily on her side. Owen went to reach out to touch her hand but she pulled away as soon as his arm extended. “Don’t touch me” She huffed and took a step back. It broke his heart that she pulled away from his touch, she had never done that before.

“Claire, I know this doesn’t look great, but everything will turn out fine”

“I’m glad you’re optimistic Owen, because I’m not” Claire’s voice was threatening to break as she said that to him and she didn’t give him time to reply, picking her handbag up off the counter she left his apartment with a heavy slam of his front door.  

 

[---]

  

Owen felt awful, like five hundred knives had just pierced his chest. This was the first fight they had ever had, arguing over fictional characters didn’t count so this was the first time they had ever been in an argument. Claire had a right to be mad at him, he was sure of that. She had been working tirelessly to plan the trip to India and he was doing nothing to help it advance but he was also stubborn, stubborn enough to still feel just in his reasoning’s. He hated leaving things unresolved and when she had stormed out of his apartment with her cheeks damp from tears, his heart did ache.

He called her cell just a minute later, which went unanswered as did the five text messages he sent through afterwards. She was stubborn too, so he expected as much, but even when expecting it, it made him mad that she was ignoring him.

His phone lit up a few minutes later from where he had thrown it on the couch next to him. He looked over quickly hoping to see her name above a message but it was just a notification of a new email. Underneath the notification strip was her face looking back at him. A picture he had taken of them on their first date, she was sitting between his legs and her hair was loose and floating around her face. They were smiling, dimples on both of their cheeks and his face was turned into hers with his lips pressed lightly on her cheek.  

Staring at the picture, he remembered how he felt in that moment, how he hardly knew her but how he felt warm and fuzzy like you would about loved one or a puppy in a window, like how he couldn’t imagine her not being there. He couldn’t lose her or stand the thought of her being angry with him so if it meant he would have to swallow his pride and admit his fault then he would do it just to be the people in that photo again.

The first step he would have to make to right his wrongs, would be physical therapy. He had upset his trainer as well, which was unfair. Dr Wilkins had been nothing but kind and caring to him and it added another layer to the amount of guilt he was feeling right at this moment. He picked up his phone again and dialled the number he knew to be Julia’s. It rang out for a long time but just as he was about to give up the phone crackled to life and she breathed out a hello.   

“Julia, It’s Owen I’m sorry I completely forgot about our session can we residual for this afternoon?” Owen said in his best ‘acting like I had just remembered something’ voice.

There was a possibility that she would believe him, the slightest one but even still it was worth a try.

“Did you forget the other three sessions too?” Dr Wilkins jabbed back at him quickly.

Clearly not. Through a heavy breath out of his nostrils he continued, “I know, I know, but please you can bust my ass as hard as you want.”

She paused to call out an instruction to her current patient, and to contemplate whether to give into him or not, he could tell by the small sighs she subconsciously breath as the stay in limbo on the phone. “Be here at four thirty”

He had two hours before the appointment and in that time he planned on getting his medical, making an appointment for his immunisations, and possibly sending flowers to Claire. The flowers and the appointment would be easy, the only thing that he might not be able to squeeze in would be the visit to the doctors.

He had the number of his usual doctor’s office saved into his phone. Dr Cross was always fond of Owens tales of adventures, he sent him a postcard from somewhere exotic once a year and Dr Cross was always willing to squeeze him in at short notice. But even with the best flirting he had up his sleeve the receptionist could fit him in the next afternoon at the earliest. Twenty-four hours wasn’t too far away so he ticked off doctor’s appointments off his list.  

He had decided in the mean-time that flowers where defiantly a good idea so he called around a few florists finding one that stocked the freshest range of Claire’s favourite flowers. He picked out Posies and Baby’s Breath to be arranged in a mason jar, twine wrapped around it with a small note hanging from the string. He had asked for them to be delivered at 7pm, the safest time of her actually being home. She would leave work by 6:30 that night then go home before changing to meet friends for drinks (It was lucky that he knew her schedule). He knew sending them straight to Tribe would be bad idea, the embarrassment of receiving them in front of her employees would get him even more in trouble than get him out of it.     

By the time all that was done he had to leave for his therapy session. Dr Wilkins was going to put him through his paces, he could tell by the equipment he could already see in their designated exercise room through the glass wall of the gym. She didn’t waste much time once he was in there, ten minutes on the treadmill, ten laps of the room, fifty step ups and lunges.

He was back on the treadmill again this time for a warm down. There was so much sweat dripping off of him he could probably fill an entire swimming pool. “So how much are you in trouble with Claire?” Dr Wilkins asked and slowly lowered the speed of the treadmill.  

The belt slowed under his feet but not enough for him to stop entirely, he adjusted his pace accordingly and through heavy puffs he said, “She hasn’t spoken to me since yesterday, so there’s a good chance I’m in the dog house”

“Are you going to fix it?” Julia titled her head quizzically.

The treadmill slowed to a complete stop and he took a moment with his chest heaving to catch his breath, “That’s why I’m here.”

 

[---]

 

He had a key. To her apartment. But standing at her door just now he thought it best not to use it, instead he brought his fist up and rapped his knuckles on the hard wood. He knew she was home, by the light slipping under the door and he waited for the shadows of her feet to break through it. It took her what felt like an hour to open it up and when she did she looked less than impressed. He smiled but that didn’t seem to soften the irritation across her face. The door was only half open, she was leaning on it, with breaths through her nose heavy as she stared at him. It was as if she was contemplating whether or not to close the door in his face but after he gave another weak smile she pulled it to be fully open “You have a key” Claire said dryly.

“I didn’t think you’d want me to use it” He replied sheepishly and walk through and into her lounge room.

He heard the door close behind him and noticed the flowers he had sent the afternoon before sitting in the middle of her dining table. The florist had done a good job, it was a beautiful arrangement and it seemed to match the rest of her décor. The card had been taken off them and she had given them a little bit of water. So she obviously she liked them, but he was sure she wouldn’t tell him that.   

While he was still staring at the flowers Claire rounded the lounge to stand in front of him, but at a far enough distance. She looked tired, with heavy eye lids and dark rings below them, she was wearing her lazy oversized cardigan which she pulled across her chest and folded her arms.

“I have the papers, all signed by the right people” Owen told her and took his medical certificates out of the inside pocket of his jacket.

“Good” She nodded following his hand with her eye while he folded open the papers. “You could have just brought them to the office tomorrow” She breathed rubbing her finger lightly under her nose.

“I didn’t want to bring it to the office I wanted to bring it to you” He said sincerely.

She folded her arms a little tighter across her chest and slowly blinked before narrowing them onto him, “What do you expect me to do throw you a party and  
forgive you just like that?”

“No!” Yeah he did a little bit. He shook his head. “But it’s not like I did anything terrible. It’s not like I -”

She cut him off. “Not like you what? Cheated on me?”

In truth he was going to say that and it was lucky that she had cut him off because he might not have had the chance to himself, “No Claire Jesus. I just wanted to show I got everything sorted”

“So what you were going to do ten step ups and say look at me I’m good to go?” She huffed and stared to walk off down the hall in the direction of his bedroom.

“No! I have all the documents Claire” He had to raise his voice slightly louder reach her down the corridor, then he angrily shoved the papers back into his pocket. When she didn’t say anything back he muttered under his breath “But there are other ways I could show you”

She heard that last bit, which he hoped she hadn’t and she whipped around marching back into the lounge room to stand just in front of him. “Sex jokes are not going to help you right now Owen! I’m angry at you. Why can’t you just let me be angry at you?”

“I” He stuttered “Look I know you’re angry, but I fixed it okay, I’ve been to three sessions in two days and I got a full bill of health from a doctor. We’re still going” 

“You really don’t get it do you?” Claire sighed and shook her head in disbelief.

He didn’t. He really didn’t. He knew why she was angry but he had fixed it all and got all of his paper work done a week before it was needed. He went to therapy three times, he got his shots and he brought her flowers. He’s not good at confrontations, he hates leaving things unresolved and right now he couldn’t see why they couldn’t just end the fight already. “I’m trying Claire” He breathed out.

“Well maybe you should try harder” She said with little sympathy and then continued. “Are we done because I was just about to go to bed”

“God you are so stubborn” Owen raised his voice out of frustration.

She raised her eyes and smiled a small smile that made him slightly nervous then shook her head from side to side for effect. “You can see yourself out” Claire answered back with her voice firm and unemotional then she turned and marched off down the hall following the path back to the bedroom.

“Did you get you’re tap fixed?” Owen called out before she reached for the door knob.    

“Not yet” He heard her say softly and then she pulled her bedroom door closed with a hearty thump.  

She had a leaky faucet at her kitchen sink, it had been driving Owen nuts for a week. He could hear it as they were falling asleep, the sound of water droplets hitting the tin of the sink. He had offered to fix it several times, he was a handy guy. His Dad had taught him the basics of nearly every household task there was and would be mortified if his sons didn’t know how to fix a leaky tap. But she hadn’t wanted him to go out of his way, so she promised him every day that she would call in a professional.

That was eight days ago and now that there was silence he could still here the dripping. He was to wired to go home, he needed to do something with his hands, something productive rather than go home to wallow. He knew there was a tool kit in her hall closet, it didn’t have much but enough to fix a leaky tap.

An hour later, his hands were covered in grease and he had a small cut from where the spanner had pinched his skin, but the faucet was fix. She would have known he was tinkering around but she didn’t leave her room, he didn’t really want her too either. He was fixing the tap just as much for him as it was for her and he didn’t expect it to resolve anything, but knowing it was fixed would give him the smallest bit of peace of mind, something that he didn’t have before.

He found a pile of post it notes and a pen before he left, to let her know what he had done. He first wrote ‘I fixed your tap, I hope your happy!’ but then ripped that off and crumpled it into his pocket then he tried again writing ‘See I can fix anything’ but he didn’t like that one either so it too joined the one in his pocket. It took him a minute of the pen hovering over the small note pad but he finally just settled simply for ‘Fixed’ and stuck it on top tap and left her apartment behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we go. 
> 
> It's not to full on, because I'm not good at conflict, but I hope you can understand why Claire was so up set with him. 
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always welcome. 
> 
> You can also find me at: lightwillalwaysbreakthedark.tumblr.com


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter seven :) Hope you like it!

It wasn’t meant to be like this. Claire left alone and Owen left unsure. They were meant to have the trip of a life-time one they could look back on for the rest of their lives. Instead Claire Dearing was left standing alone at the airport gate wondering if her boyfriend would even show up. They’d already called business class over the loud speaker and the rest of her crew boarded the plane, leaving her to wait by herself. Then it was priority seating and now the line to board was nearing the end of economy with only a few more passengers to board till last call. 

She and Owen had barely spoken in three weeks. They had to interact at Tribe when he came along to the two briefing meetings and when he met the rest of the team that was travelling to India. They had dinner twice, when he knew she was working late and showed up with take out, but they didn’t talk about much, they spoke about how she didn’t like to fly and how his football team had been going. Claire had been avoiding his calls and leaving his messages unanswered, she did make sure to write back at least once a day but most of the time they were left. She was busy too, getting everything ready for a business trip overseas was very time consuming and she had every right to be angry with him which she was going to make sure he knew. She knew he’d been trying, she really did, but she needed more and she didn’t really know yet what the ‘more’ she wanted was.  

Earlier in the week they had all agreed to meet out the front of the Tribe offices and organized for a driver to deliver them to the airport. Claire was first there as she should have been, then Zara and the others trickled in before the cut off time of when they had to leave. It started to bother her when he didn’t show up before the last person to join them had. Then when he wasn’t there ten minutes after that she started to panic. Claire being Claire had given them a generous amount of time before they were actually needed to be at the airport, but after waiting an extra fifteen minutes she had to call it and they all piled into the limousine and took off without him.

She was getting nervous as the last passengers walked through to the plane and she could hear heavy footsteps coming closer from behind her, but she didn’t dare look, the risk of disappointment was far too high. The butterflies in her stomach where fluttering when the flight attendant looked to her with sympathetic eyes and waved her towards the gate. “CLAIRE!” A loud husky voice called out from behind. She sighed heavily, the relief spilling out of her and she brought herself to turn around. It was him, Owen Grady. Sweat dripping from his forehead, a heavy bag slung over his shoulder and a smaller one slung over the other. “Sorry traffic was a bitch” He breathed trying to catch his breath from his sprint to the gate.

Claire though relieved didn’t answer him just nodded for them to continue into the plane. The flight attendant ushered them to their seats quickly and helped them put their bags in the overhead carriage. They watched the safety instruction in silence neither daring to even look in each-others direction. Claire’s hand did reach for his with a flash as they were taking off (Claire Dearing does NOT like flying) then let it go just as quickly when they were safely in the air.

It wasn’t until the seat belt light was turned off that they spoke. “So are you going to talk to me?” Owen asked softly from her left side.

She gave him a sigh and waited till the attendant passed with the food trolley till she answered him “You know very well why I’m not talking to you”

Owen’s eyes widened and he unclipped his seatbelt and turned to fully face her while still in his seat, “I know and you’ve got to know how sorry I am. I’ve got to figure this out in my head, but the last thing I want to do is to lose you”

“I’m not angry about you not going to therapy. Though I think you’re an idiot for not going. I’m angry that you lied to me”

“Trust me lying to you was the last thing I wanted to do, but I wasn’t smart enough at the time to realise how much I would hurt you” His eyes were intense and still as wide as saucers. She knew that he was trying his hardest to make things right. But with all his words and looks of sincerity, the guards stationed at her heart still had a hard time lowering their defences. “Well are you smart enough now” She asked with a small but strong voice.

“Yes” He nodded quickly, “I’m not going to lie to you about therapy or anything ever again. I don’t want to lose you. You’re the only good thing I’ve got going on right now”

“Well I hope you mean that” There was a long pause, “And you’re not going to lose me. I’m just going to be mad for a little while”

[---]

It was hot and humid, and the air smelt of spices and dust all mixed together. They had landed in Delhi where their Indian correspondent was waiting for them at the airport and now they had been driving for two hours with another two to go. The van was hot and the roads bumpy all of them were exhausted and the effects of jet lag were already starting to present. Claire accidently fell asleep on his shoulder half an hour back, and he knew she’d be kicking herself if she knew where her head had landed.

She woke in enough time to fix herself up before meeting with their further Indian correspondence at the makeshift office they had created in the village closet to the waterfalls location. It was even hotter than the van had been when they stepped out and onto the dirt. Owen was sure he’d lost at least five pounds just from sweating already. Claire wasted no time in introducing herself to the five people whom would be their guides and the rest of the crew followed her actions, shaking hands and sharing names, while Owen stayed behind and tried to hide the stiffness in his knee.  

She was only gone for a minute or two before she walked back to where he was subtly stretching out his leg by the van and she collect her hand bag swinging it over her shoulder “You’re hurting” Claire said to Owen when noticing how his leg was stiff and how he used his hand to help move it.

“No it’s okay I’m fine” She was right his knee was killing him. Nineteen hours on a plan, stop overs and the four hours in the van had really done him in. His leg hurt the mostly after being in the same position for a long time, it locked and the muscles contracted leaving him sore and uncomfortable. It did the same in the mornings after a nights sleep and that’s why he liked to run, but most of the time he could go about his life as normal.

“Go for a walk and stretch, I don’t want you to be in pain” She told him softly so only he could hear.

He tried to protest just a little but gave up and did as he was told, it was for his benefit anyway. He left the team to stretch out his knee with a walk through the village. He found his way through the small town, where children waved to him with big smiles as he went by and adults noting his white skin offered him many things to buy. He didn’t know how but he ended up behind some houses that lead up a small path and there he found a hill that at the top over looked a beautiful valley. He had his camera slung over his shoulder and couldn’t help but take a few shots as he waited for his knee to regain full function. Almost half an hour had passed without him noticing, so slinging the camera over his shoulder once again he followed his foot-steps back to the compound.

Claire’s meeting was wrapping up by the time he got back it was just to get acquainted and go over the schedule so it didn’t need to be too long. Owen shook the hands of their guides and translator, then the whole crew was back in the van again. The hotel that was to be their base was just a few miles down the road and hidden up a long narrow path. It was a shabby building but beautiful at the same time with smaller huts branching off around it. It was set up on a plateau overlooking the thick jungle, to the side you could see the roof tops of the distant village and a small tealeaf plantation. The air was slightly cooler in the hallow of the hotel which was a nice break from the sweltering heat of the village.

He didn’t think twice of it, that he and Claire would of course be sharing a room, that was until she returned from the reception desk with wary eyes. He didn’t think it was his company that concerned her more so the fact that being in a room together would force them to confront their current issues. But either way, her expression didn’t ease his thoughts. They bid the rest of the crew goodbye, promising to meet in the mid-morning after a night of sleep and freshen up, then they each found their way to their respective rooms.

Claire and Owens room was not so much a room but a bungalow separated by a small pathway and hidden by a thick cover of trees. Once they entered they found an open living space with a small kitchenette, a cushioned sitting area on the floor and queen sized bed propped up with only wooden panels that sat just a few inches off the ground. The bed was under an open window with thin cotton curtains gently swaying in the breeze, a mosquito net sat draping over and it looked so inviting after being awake for nearly twenty-four hours.

“I know you’re still mad but this room doesn’t have a couch” Owen said with a huffed as he lumped the heavy bags off of his shoulders and they landed on the ground with a thump.

When she turned her face was unreadable the one that scared him because he couldn’t see the slightest tell in her eyes or quiver in her lips then with her face unchanged she spoke, “Owen just shut up and take your clothes off” 

[---]

Their bodies had a shine of sweat over them and their skin was sticking to each other, they were out of breath and a mess of sheets and ruffled hair but by god it felt good. A breeze was flowing from the rainforest and in through the open window above, pooling in around them like a refreshing blanket and it breathed new energy into them while the peaceful song of unknown birds sang out from the surrounding trees.

“Where did you get that?” Claire asked while running her finger along a small scar she had just found on Owens bottom right rib. She was actually quite amazed that she hadn’t found it before. It wasn’t exactly the first time she had laid with Owen skin to skin.

“Oh that? My brother pushed me off the dock outside our house when we were kids but he wasn’t strong enough so I scraped against the wood, and got a killer splinter and six stiches along with it” Owen explained while he ran his fingers softly down her back.

“Ouch” Claire kept tracing the scar delicately with her index finger and nestled her head just that little bit more into the gap between Owens neck and shoulder. It fell silent again with just their breaths creating the smallest decibels of noise.

“You know I never meant to upset you” Owen whispered into the stillness of the room and pushed a loose piece of Claire hair behind her ear.

She waited a few beats of his heart, then said breathed quietly “I know”

Tilting his head quizzically he kissed the side of her forehead, “So are we okay?”

There was another outstretch of time while they both waited for an answer, Owen for one to hear and for Claire the time to find it, “We’re better, but I don’t know about okay”

[---]

The next morning it was time to start work and with jet lagged and restless nights they were all a little worst for wear. Their guides would show them down to the fall, it was twelve miles away by foot through heavy forest and frequent tropical rains. They were set to visit the fall nearly every day throughout their week in India, sometimes as a whole unite and other times just for Owen to get the perfect shot. This time it was the whole crew, one guide and the translator took the lead then the six foreigners filled in the middle with another guide rounding out the back.   

There was a ten-minute walk through a tea leaf plantation till they reached the edge of the forest, and by only ten minutes in Claire was thankful she had done some extra cardio sessions at the gym before they had left. Owen was surprisingly peppy for a man who’s camera bag weighed about as much as Claire herself did. He had a glimmer to his eyes and a high wattage to his smile, he was practically skipping which only made Claire chuckle.      

“That plant is beautiful” Claire point out to a delicate purple plant on the outer rim of the forest.  

  
“That’s indigo” Owen said with a smile and continued on his way. 

No one spoke much throughout the journey though they did stop for serval water breaks. Owen made his way to the back of the line to document nearly every move the group of nine made. Claire could hear the click of his shutter every few steps, something that her ears seemed to now be attuned to. They moved through the untamed jungle surprisingly well then just as they were all almost at their physical limits the waterfall came into sight.

It was beautiful even with hazy eyes and puffing chests, it was beautiful. The local guide, the one that didn’t speak English seemed to be amused by the Americans exhaustion while the rest of them were still catching their breaths. The steady stream from the fall beat down on the pool of water below adding a rhythmic hum to the sound track of the jungle, vines fell over the rocky crevasse of the stream and several man made talisman and statues sat on a few of the rocks around the rim of the water.

They all took a moment to let it fill their senses, a few of the crew gasped ‘Woah’ and Claire found Owens eye when he was looking for hers as well. They did that for several minutes all nine of them staring at the beautiful fall with gaping mouths and wide eyes, then the guide spoke in Hindi, he said something which they all thought might be a local welcome, so they looked to their translator and he repeated in English with a smile, “Please everyone, get in”

Their equipment was dropped with in a second and all of their shoes flicked off the second later, that saw all of them diving into the water still fully clothed. Claire wasn’t even hesitant to join them with the pool such a relief from the smouldering sun. They played like children, splashing at each other, and giggling as they tread the water. The water was fresh and it smelt of fresh rain and tasted sweet from the earth around it which is what they were told gave it it’s ‘healing properties’.

Claire was chuckling with Zara when Owen swam over smile wide and hair sticking flat to the top of his head, “You know I’ve noticed something” He said to Claire with a devilish smirk.

“What?” She answered back with a glee in her voice that she didn’t often share with the people she worked with.

“You’re hairs not wet” Owen’s hands crept onto her shoulders and he pushed her under the surface of the water. She was only under for a second and came up cursing his name, with fierce eyes even though there was a smile creeping across her face.

Zara was left blinking, mouth kept tight unsure if she was allowed to laugh at her boss, “You’re probably the only person in the world that would get away with that” She said to Owen and after Claire let out a giggle all three of them were left laughing.

[---]

Five days into the trip they had already been to the fall six times, had countless interviews and countless progress meetings. The food in the village was amazing and the locals had been nothing but effortlessly kind. Claire and Owen hadn’t spent a lot of energy talking about the issues between them, even though it was probably a perfect time for it. They had formed a bubble one in India that didn’t involve the troubles of New York City and they were both happy to stay like that until the bubble would be popped and once again their lives went back to the rush of city living.  

Owen wanted to catch the water fall at night on their second last day and be there at the first light of day, so he had organised a tent and permission from the village elders to camp out overnight by the water. Claire was not impressed with his idea at all. First off, there were tigers, second he was her responsibility, thirdly he could injure his knee, fourthly … well the list could go on. But he was determined and there was no stopping him.   

A guide had agreed to hike back out with him but he was then going to go back to his village of just a few huts. The village was a collection of people whom where the unofficial guardians of the fall and it sat on the other side it’s rocky frame. The village was still a distance away though which meant Owen would be by himself, leaving Claire no other option than to go with him. She couldn’t allow him to be alone even though he insisted it would be fine and no one else seemed to be volunteering so that just left her.

She grumbled most of the way there saying things like ‘why do you have to be such a perfectionist’ which only made him laugh and reply with ‘pot, kettle’. Their guide didn’t say much and Claire wasn’t sure if he could understand their bickering, but she felt slightly bad that he had to listen to them for two hours. He helped them make camp and gave them a shot gun and other defences in case they were; no matter how unlikely, to come across any big cats then he left them alone for the night.

Owen set up his camera with the bit of light they had left and snapped away for at least an hour while Claire watched and swatted away the bugs that landed on her arms. When night fell and he was no longer able get a good shoot, he packed away his equipment and joined her on the rock she had chosen to sit on. They didn’t build a fire as the heat was already too intense instead they used lanterns to light up their camp. The hotel had packed them dinner, which thankfully didn’t need heating up and they scoffed down their rice and chicken like animals, the walk setting their appetites into overdrive.   

They called it a night early as they were to rise with the sun. The ground was far from comfortable even with a camping mat underneath them. Owen was used to it though and his eyes fell into sleep after just five minutes, but Claire couldn’t do the same. She tossed and turned, she adjusted the mat underneath her and sighed when she couldn’t find comfort in the next position she had chosen.

“Stop wriggling” Owen huffed and surprised her by pulling her entire body to lay on top of his.

Though still a bit surprised she settled to lay on top of him, “This can’t be comfortable for you” she whispered.

He laughed through his sleepiness which made her body move up and down as his did the same, “I’ve never complained about having an attractive woman on top of me before”

When it settled back to quiet, her eyes settled too, he may not have been as soft as a thick mattress, but he was certainly more comfortable than the ground and his heart beat rhythmically hummed her to sleep. 

[---]

 

“Wake up” Claire whispered into Owens ear.

They had been asleep for an hour or two, but her eyes fluttered open and the heat coming off her skin was almost that of a burning coal which made it impossible for sleep again. She was still pressed to Owens chest, their skin sticking together and his breaths rising and falling under her. He rumbled awake but his eyes stayed closed, “Why do I have to wake up?”

“Let’s go for a swim” She said this time a little louder.

His eyes snapped open at her words and a mischievous grin crept across his face, “Now who’s getting us into trouble?”

He was quick to agree and they zipped up the tent behind them to keep the hovering insects out, then found their way down to the edge of the water. Claire toed the pool to test the temperature, it was cool but once in you would certainly adjust. Unexpectedly she felt Owen’s arm slide around her stomach and he pull her from the edge, her feet leaving the ground and right into his chest.

“What are you doing?” Claire gasped when settled back on the ground as Owen slid the strap of her bra off her shoulder. She was dressed in a sports bra and small pyjama shorts while he was in just his briefs.

He continued to undress her, pushing the other strap of her shoulder but the fabric still clung to her skin and covered her breasts. He moved both his hands to run down her side and collected the fabric as he went pulling it down to expose her. He pressed his cheek to the side of hers, his hot breaths fell on her shoulder and his stubble tickled her skin and he whispered, “It’s dark and we are in the middle of nowhere, no one is going to see”

She let him continue with gentle hands and stolen kisses and soon all of her clothes were slung on a rock with his following just behind. Owen was the first in the water, with a hearty splash surly heard by the village over the fall. Claire stepped in slower allowing her body to adjust to the sudden cool of the water. She got to just below her belly button using her technique before Owen pulled her to where her feet could no longer touch.

It took a moment or two to feel comfortable in the water but then the relief from the hot air was so blissful it could almost be a dream. They circled the pool for a few minutes with their eyes closing as they floated on their backs in the water.

“You know if you want to be healed by the powers you have to swim underneath the fall” Owen told her when they met in the middle of the pool with his eyes drifting towards the downward stream.

“No you don’t” Claire laughed.

Owen laughed with her, “Okay maybe not, but let’s do it anyway”

The waterfall was of a decent size but the water flow wasn’t to fierce, more like a massage falling gently across their skin. Their hair stuck to her faces and they laughed at the stream running over them.

They found a place where they could rest from the constant treading of water, Owens back pressed up against a rock while Claire clung around his neck. They kiss three or four times slowly each time their lips parted they found each-others again, and they giggled like teenagers experiencing their first taste of adulthood. The moon shone a gentle light that seemed to glow off of their pale skin making it easy to see the smiles gracing both faces.   

Nothing much had been said between them as they play in the water, chasing one another around the small pool to find the others touch. But when they settled they whispered in each-others ear, things they hadn’t heard in three weeks. Claire trailed her fingers across Owens face gently tracing the outline of his lips, “You know that I love you right?” she said softly with one hand anchoring her around his neck and the other now caressing his stubbled cheek.

Owen’s eyes ran over her face taking in each and every freckle, every crease and every curve, committing her to memory before breathing out, “I love you too”

[---]

The next few days went quickly, way faster than any of them had hoped for and before they knew it they were at the departure lounge and then taking off for the States again. The plane ride back wasn’t as strained as the one into India had been, nearly all of them slept the whole way home including Owen. Claire found herself with Owens arm slung onto her chest and his head heavily snoozing on her shoulder as she went over her notes in the few hours where she couldn’t find sleep.

When they landed it was clear to see the conflict of excitement of travel and the pure relief of being home mixing across the passengers faces and their wary legs trudged off the plane and into the busy terminal.

“Should we sleep off our jet lag at your place or mine?” Owen asked with a chuckle when he pulled their last piece of luggage off the baggage carousel.  

With his face so bright it was hard for her to for her to admit, but she still wasn’t okay. Within herself that was, she had figured out what that something more that she needed was and right now that was space. “Look Owen, I -”

“Claire if this you breaking up with me? We really-” Owen said panicked and eyes frantically searching her face.

“No let me finish” Claire smiled weakly and put her hands on his chest in efforts to calm him down. “I love you, I really love you but I need a few days okay maybe a little longer. I want to be with you I do, but you lied to me and that’s a big deal. Even over something small, it’s a big deal to me. I need to get out of my own head without you being there and I need to trust you again.”

“Okay” He looked like a lost puppy which almost made Claire change her mind then and there but he didn’t argue, “I’m going to be waiting though”

“I know” She nodded softly and left him by the carousel quickly so she couldn’t change her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there we go.
> 
> I promise it won't take too long for things to be resolved between the two of them. 
> 
> Let me know what you think. Comments and Kudos are always welcome.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just a short one to get them back on track :) 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

A few days turned into a week and a half. They checked in via text message every day to make sure they were alive and Claire had called him to tell him, she had arrived safely when she visited her sister in Madison over the weekend they were apart. When she had returned for work that Monday he was there at Tribe looking over the photos from India with the graphic designers, but things between the two of them were still off. She spoke to him in small sentences and flicked her eyes around the room, only letting them fall on him for a second.  

He understood that she was upset about him lying, but there was more going on for her. He got it, it was the same for him, he knew she was freaked out about how deep their relationship was becoming. It took her along time to open up, she’d told him so herself, on one of the very first days they spent together and then when she had opened up to someone they let her down. Now letting him in meant there was room for more scars, but that was never going to happen, not in his mind anyway. He was willing to fight for them, fight till his last breath, hell he’d jump in front of a bus if it meant her life would be saved.

They’d have to see each other eventually and that eventually was a photoshoot for Tribe. It had he’d been booked in for months, it was at a bar, a hidden spot famous in small circles for its live music. He’d be photographing a band mostly which Owen thought was actually quiet cool. The owner of the bar was the brother in-law of Claire’s friend, the one she started Tribe with and that’s why she would be there too. Tending to established relationships and all of that.

Owen had been looking forward to it all week, he needed to see her, even if she still wasn’t particularly impressed with him, but he just needed to be near her.

Something was wrong, and not just because he was there and they were still doing, whatever it was that they were doing, something was definitely wrong. She looked flawless, her hair was perfect, make up spotless and outfit to die for but he could tell something was upsetting her. Her smiles were fake, she looked down to the floor every chance she got and she checked her phone more times than necessary just so she looked like she was doing something.

She had been doing it for an hour now, every time he looked over to her, she had her face pointed to the ground. She was swinging her glasses in her hand, by the stem and in a circular motion watching them turn aimlessly as he clicked his shutter. He tried to lighten her mood by smiling at her a few times but she only gave him that fake smile back, the one where your mouth makes a line and your cheeks rise that little bit but not enough to affect your eyes. It wasn’t until another half-an-hour later that he was able to get her alone.  

“What’s wrong?” Owen asked softly when they were finally far enough away from the keen ears of her staff.

“Nothing I’m fine” She sighed and adjusted the long necklace around her neck.

He breathed heavily through his nose and rolled his eyes taking the camera strap off from around his neck and put it back down into its bag. “Claire, you can’t pull that shit with me. I know you and I know something is wrong”

“Not here” Claire whispered and looked around to see if they were being watched then she took his hand, pulling him into the empty green room down the hall.

The room was musky and smelt of left over whiskey there a few guitars propped up by frames, a weathered yellow couch and pictures covering the walls. He took a brief note in the back of his mind to photograph it later, but as soon as door was shut behind them, she bit her lip and tears weren’t far behind. “Hey, what is it? What’s wrong” Owen worried pulling her into his chest. She wasn’t sobbing or shaking, she just leant into him with most of her weight and quiet tears hit his skin through the fabric of his shirt. 

“It’s so stupid, I don’t know why I’m crying” Claire hiccupped and buried her face further into his chest. “Chase sent me an invitation to his wedding”

“What?” Owen was seriously getting sick of hearing this guys’ name. He’d seen a picture of him once, Chase, he stood next to Claire his arm around her and he had a smirk rather than a smile, even in the photo he looked like a complete twat. He had a way of muscling into her life even when she tried so hard to be rid of him and Owen was sick of it.

“I don’t care that he’s getting married honestly. But why would he send me an invitation? So what, he can spend his whole wedding taunting me with a smug smile and hoping I’m thinking I made a mistake” Claire breathed as she collected herself.

“You don’t have to worry about him okay. He’s a dick and you definitely don’t have to go”   

She stood back from him and wiped under her eye’s where it was moist from tears, “I know all of that logically, but I can’t help it he just gets under my skin”

“I know he cheated on you and you broke it off, but did he do something else? Did he hurt you?” He asked deeply and placed his hands gently on the curve of her shoulders, looking into her eyes intensely “Because I swear to god -”

“No” Claire assured him, “He never touched me. Just when he cheated on me he turned it all back on me and said stupid things like, a wife should be okay with her husband having an affair as long as they paid bills and gave them children. He was -”

“A sexist pig” Owen finished for her.

“Amongst other things” She sighed, “I don’t know why it’s bothering me so much I just, I hate being reminded of him”

“I’m so sorry sweetheart” Owen said softly and pulled her into his chest again.

They didn’t say anything for a moment or two. Claire wrapped her arms around him to hold tight around his back and her head fell to rest in the crook of his neck. He kissed the side of her forehead as they stay silent but they could easily hear the commotion of the photoshoot continue out in the main room. Something made a crashing sound, just a second later which reminded them both that they should probably get back to work. Though neither broke their embrace.

“I’ve missed you. We’re okay you and I. I don’t want to miss you anymore” Claire breathed into his chest and squeezed him that little bit tighter.

“Thank god for that” Owen sighed with a month’s worth of relief and lift up her chin to kiss her lips.  
  


[---]  
 

Owen was livid, seeing Claire upset, seeing her question her worth over that complete and utter asshole. He managed to keep it under wraps throughout the rest of the shoot, his photography calmed him, but as soon as the shoot was wrapped up his blood started to boil and his brow was tight. Claire left him with a kiss and promise for dinner later, she’d probably end up working till nine so he knew it would be a late one (that meant a bonus three o’clock dinner in between to get him trough), but Owen didn’t mind.

She’d given him the invitation to read over but what she hadn’t known is that he had pocketed it. He was actually surprised that she had it on her, but when she explained that she was going to ‘return to sender’ and slip it in the post box down the street, it all made sense. Then there was the reason he pocketed it. He didn’t want to keep it. Obviously. He did however have a plan to ‘return it to sender’ personally.

It helped that he knew where Chase worked, and that he had a smart phone that could easily direct him to that location. It also helped that he could switch on the charm that could help him get through any road blocks and right to Chase’s desk.

“Excuse me I’m looking for Chase Ryan” Owen politely asked a young man wearing glasses and suspenders who was standing over a printer collecting the papers it was spitting out.

“He’s right over there” The man smiled and pointed to a group of three men whom were standing in front of what seemed to be the newspaper’s director’s door several feet away.

Owen marched over with the wedding invitation clenched in his fist. He knew which one was Chase right away, the youngest one with the smallest frame and smuggest face. “Hey you!!!” Owen called out, which caught the attention of all three men.

But Chase was the one that answered, “Do I know you?”

“No you don’t” Owen snapped.

“What do you want?” Chase asked with raised eyebrows then he unbuttoned the two top buttons pulling his jacket together and dramatically placed his hands on his hips.

If he was trying to intimidate Owen with his stance it wasn’t working.  Owen only found it amusing and shoved the wedding invitation roughly onto Chases chest, “You don’t send your ex fiancé a wedding invitation”

Chase took the invitation in his hand with a smirk creeping across his face. You’d think you would try to dissolve a confrontation calmly in front of your boss but Chase, no, Chase seemed to be enjoying it, “If she doesn’t want to come she doesn’t have to RSVP”

“Of course she doesn’t want to come, you asshat” Owen countered.

“You know I think she might, she can write about it in that little magazine of hers. It’s going to be the wedding of the season after all” Chase laughed and took a step closer to Owen.

Could this guy be anymore pompous? From what Owen had gather from Claire, Chase had cheated on her with a daughter from one of those influential New York family’s, she was working at his paper for ‘life experience’ or something like that and it took him all but three weeks to get into her pants. It was annoying but their wedding was going to be covered by one or another of NY’s magazines’, which only added salt into Claire’s wounds.   

“It’s not a little magazine and if Tribe ever did want to run a story on you, which will NEVER happen, you should be honoured”  

“I don’t need you and your attitude just because that bitch couldn’t handle a little affair” Chase spat, much closer to Owens face than was a good idea.    
  
“What did you just call her?” That was a bad move on Chases behalf.

“Ah, did you not here it the first time? I said she was a bitch” The egotistical man repeated.

Owen saw red his mind was nothing but rage and his arm swung back building momentum and his hardened fist hit Chase square in the nose. The man dropped to the ground a second after impacted in between the door frame of his boss’s office, the two other men watched on without intrusion, and a few droplets of blood spilled out from Chase’s right nostril.  

Taking his hand to wipe the blood Chase looked back to Owen with wide eyes, “Oh you asshole. Look out for the lawsuit coming your way”

“Go for it” Owen seethed and decided it was best to then and there march out of the office.

“Why do you even care?” Chase called out when Owen had reached the fourth cubicle down.

Owen stopped in his tracks but he didn’t turn around, “Because she’s the love of my life”

[---]  
  


Owen took an extra loop around the block before he finally took the elevator up to Claire’s office floor. Being that it was only a two story building it wasn’t a very long ride. Tribe owned the whole building, it was an old paper mill. The bottom floor had green rooms and printing rooms with the remanence of the old machines still found around the place while the top floor was dedicated to offices and conference rooms. Claire’s office was the largest, down the main hall with a left turn and it opened up into a huge space, shelves lined with magazines and art covering the walls.

She was behind her desk when he trudged along to stand in her door way, her glasses where slid to the end of her nose and she was biting on the end of a pen. He liked watching her work, she was so focused and her mouth always twitched just a little at the edges. He managed to watch her for maybe a minute before she noticed him and her eyes grew bigger and brighter. She dropped her pen immediately and pushed her chair out to meet him in the middle of her office, she left her glasses on which Owen loved, like loved!

“Hi, I didn’t expect to see you till later” Claire smiled and kissed him softly on the lips.

He kissed her back, savouring it before he would have to tell her. He’d thought about it on the way over, of whether he should tell her right away or wait a day or two till it died down, but then he remembered the fight thing, that lying was a bad idea, that and he also knew it would get to her through the grape vine anyway.  

Owen knew that it wouldn’t be like before, that she would be devastated and they wouldn’t speak for three weeks, but she’d probably say things like ‘why do you have to be so rash?’ or ‘he could sue you, you idiot” which where both true. But they’d only gotten back to normal that day, like literally a few hours ago, so he didn’t want any ‘bad blood’ so to speak, between them. But on the other side punching Chase in the face was totally worth it.   

“I have a confession to make” Owen told her with honest eyes.

Claire took a step back from him and looked him up and down, glasses still on the edge of her nose. Her eyes ran over him a few times, from his hair right down to his shoes, then she looked back up to his eyes with a blank expression, that he couldn’t quite read, “You punched Chase”

“How did you know that?” Owen gasped.

“You look guilty and your knuckles are red” Claire stated matter-of-factly with her eyebrows raised.

Owen opened his mouth to speak then closed it again, then did the same again and chose to leave it that way. He must have been dating Sherlock or something because he’s a photographer which makes him observant and he wouldn’t have even picked up on the little bit of red colouring on his knuckles. But of course she did, always one step in front of everybody. Now is when he expected the disappointment maybe not disappointment, disapproval was more accurate, but instead she cracked a smile.      

“Did you put your back into it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See I promised it would be resolved quickly :) 
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always welcome.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter nine! I really loved writing this chapter and it's one of my favourites, so I hope you like it!!

It happened gradually over a couple of months, Owens things where all over Claire’s apartment. It started with the draw that Claire cleared for him, which turned into a serval draws. Then by him leaving his camera equipment in her hall closet (it was easy to access from her place and also closer to the Tribe office) then a row in the closet, his shoes sat beside hers on the rack, then with his clothes over flowing it was a matching chest of doors squeezed in beside hers. His bike was in her parking space and there was a photo of his family on the runner behind her couch. His heavy furniture and his kitchen stayed in tacked in his old apartment ten blocks away but other than that all of Owen Grady lived at Claire Dearing’s apartment. Unofficially that was.

Her apartment was much nicer than his, there was a gym in her building and a pool on the roof. There was more space for the two of them there, they could be with each other but still manage to escape if they needed five minutes alone. The stairs up to where she lived on the fifth floor helped work his knees, even though there was an elevator he chose the exercise most days. Overall her place was the best for the two of them to share a space rather than his shabby, little place that was falling apart at the seams and he shared with two mice.

“So are you going to end your lease?” Claire asked over the latest addition of the New York Times and a glass of orange juice.

The morning sun was shining in through the window above her sink while they were enjoying a lazy breakfast, catching some peaceful moments before they would both have to change gears and rush around like category ten cyclones to make it to their respective job’s in time. That is why Owen almost missed Claire’s quiet question.     

“What?” Owen grunted and looked up with a bite of peanut butter toast clenched in his teeth.

“To your apartment, all of your stuff is here, we spend all of our time here. There’s no point you paying rent on an empty apartment” She replied nonchalantly, sipping her orange juice with eyebrows raised in his direction.

“Is that - are you asking me to move in with you?” Owen asked through the bite of toast he was still chewing.

“You’ve been moved in with me for weeks, I’m just wondering if you’re going to stop wasting money on paying for an apartment you never use” Claire said bluntly and returned to reading over a page in her magazine.

Owen was still chewing the bite of breakfast in his mouth and waited till he swallowed to answer, “Okay, I’ll call my real estate today. But I’m going to need to get all of my stuff out of there”

Claire nodded with raised eyebrows and a smirk that was if she was saying ‘Obviously’ and she giggled, “I can help you”  


[---] 

“I underestimated how much stuff you have” Claire huffed as she loaded yet another box into the trailer Owen had borrowed from a friend.

They had been going since 7am. Hauling boxes out of his apartment and down the few steps into the trailer connected to Claire’s car parked on the curb. Most of his small stuff, the stuff that wasn’t already at Claire’s, had been brought over in small doses throughout the week, but today was the last day he was allowed to be in his old apartment which meant all of the heavy furniture had to be out too. Barry had offered to help, but he was only available for a few hours, so most of the time it had been just Claire and Owen.

Claire’s strength had surprised him, which it shouldn’t have because they’d been to the gym together and he knew what she was capable of, but he was still surprised about how easy lifting furniture with her had been. There had been no problems lifting, pivoting out of doorways, stacking and juggling, except for one time where Owens knee locked up on the stairs and he almost dropped his hefty six-foot bookshelf on her. If it wasn’t for the passer by things could have gotten a little dicey, but they managed to fluke their way out of disaster.

They’d made a lot progress in a short amount of time otherwise, with already making a trip over to Claire’s to unloaded his arm chair and display cabernet, fitting them into spaces Claire had specifically made for them. He’d sold a few of his things like his microwave and old bed days before and friends had raided the pile of things he no longer needed, Barry calling dibs on his fridge, which cut thing down a lot. But he still had more stuff than would fit in Claire’s …. their apartment. Some of it could be stacked in her car space with a tarp thrown over them for good measure, temporarily of course and Claire had mentioned something about her parents having spare space but they’d cross that bridge when they came to it, meeting them first would probably be a good idea.

There was one more load to fill and then another one to the Good Will needed before it would be finally over and Owen and Claire would officially live together. Owen defiantly owed Claire a cold beer and he would certainly be running her a warm bath, but there was a little more heavy lifting before they could crack open a cold one a put their feet up.  

“Please tell me this is the last of it” Claire sighed, arms propped up on her hips and hair a sweaty mess.

Owen rounded the corner of the trailer stopping in front of the open gate with a surprisingly  heavy side table in his arms. He grunted for her to help him lift the table in and caught her roll her eyes, which of course just made him laugh, “Put your back into it Dearing”

[---]

  
  
Owen had never met any of his girlfriends’ parents before. Well... with the exception of his first girlfriend, his high school sweetheart who he’d known his whole life. His and her parents had had a plan to marry them off before they could both even walk, so that didn’t count. It was an under-statement to say he was nervous, he’d been thinking of nothing else for the two weeks that the trip had been planned. He knew it was coming but when her parents had agreed to store some of his furniture and boxes in their garage while he figured out what to do with them it all of a sudden made it real.

Claire was from the Hamptons Long Island, and before he had met Claire, Owen didn’t actually know people where from the Hamptons. He thought it was just a vacation spot for the rich and famous somewhere where polo matches and art auctions were an everyday event, but Claire was born and raised there. Her father was the only heir to quiet a substantial fortune with parents who died tragically when he was only young. She was from money, raised with privilege and class but that’s why she worked so hard and why she was so driven to prove herself, everything she had, she had earned for herself. She spoke of her family a lot while they had been together, he knew all about them as individuals but he didn’t know all of this until a few months ago when they were attending a function and people in sharp suits where asking of her parents.

She had met his family the month before when they flew across country to his home town in Oregon for his nephews first birthday. She had been nervous too, her hands fidgeting the entire four-and-a-half-hour plane ride and she nearly bit a hole threw her bottom lip. It was safe to say his parents, brother and sister were a little sceptical about their relationship at first, purely for the fact that she was so different to his girlfriends of the past, but then Claire giggled and he saw them fall in love just as much as he had.

It was funny that her parents lived just a few hours away and they hadn’t managed to meet over the entire eleven months and thirteen days of their relationship. He’d spoken to her mother once, briefly on the phone while Claire was in the shower and couldn’t answer. She was friendly and kind but they didn’t talk for long as Claire shot out of the shower and raced to take the phone from him, loose towel, wet hair and all.  There was a good reason though, as most of the time they had been together Claire’s parents had been holidaying in Europe and then the Caribbean or only able to visit the city when he just so happened to be away on a shoot. (The last one he suspected had been orchestrated by Claire)

This weekend however, he didn’t only have to impress her parents, but her sister Karen, brother in-law Scott and two young nephews, Zach and Gray also. She talked about Karen endlessly. Her sister was ten years older and lived in Wisconsin with her family, moving there when Claire was just thirteen to marry the man she had fallen for in collage and eventually run the local News Station. The sisters grew apart with the distance but a few years ago they decided to reconnect. They spoke on the phone and over skype at least once a week and Owen was pretty sure Karen had accidently seen him naked when he walked out of the shower and didn’t realise that Claire was on skype.

Karen and her family where visiting for the long weekend, which is why Claire had planned that she introduce him to everyone all at once. He would have preferred to have meet her parents first, maybe a nice dinner in the city, where he could wear a nice suit and impress them with is knowledge of fine wines (that he would research the night before), instead of parading him out in front of everyone. Another reason that made him worry, was the last guy she had brought home was a major dick, we all know who that was, so there was a good chance their view of him had already been highly scrutinised. He had a lot to prove over a casual lunch by the pool but at least he still had a two-hour car ride ahead to get his nerves under control.

“Are you okay?” Claire asked from behind the steering wheel of her BMW. He had been quiet their whole drive, watching out the window as Claire chatted away.

“Huh?” Owen grunted and tore his eyes away from the line of tree’s his eyes were following to look at Claire, “Yeah I’m fine”

“You’re nervous” A smile crept across her face and she giggled. He shook his head profusely but her smiled didn’t fayed and she playfully shoved at his shoulder.

“No I am not” He was! But he tried to argue otherwise.

Claire wasn’t having any of it, and he knew she thought it was highly assuming, what with her continuous laughter and Cheshire grin, “Yes you are!” She chuckled away, “You’re nervous”

“Okay, I’m nervous” He finally admitted with a gruff mumble, “I want your family to like me”

“You don’t have to worry they already like you” She smiled taking her eye’s of the road for a second to look at him. He smiled back and she lift his hand from where it sat on the centre consul and pressed her lips to his wrist. 

[---]

Their house was beautiful even before he even entered it. It was incredibly large with two storeys, white panelled wood, shining window after shining window and it was probably the length of a football field. The garden beds sitting under the large bay windows were perfectly groomed, grass on the front lawn was freshly mowed and the front door was the painted the perfect shade of dark green with not a mark on it. The Dearing’s were high achievers, driven to reach the highest peak of whatever they were doing. The house only proved that. Claire had already warned him of the family dynamic in the two weeks she had been prepping him for their meeting. They were different than he was used to, more reserved and quite observers, unlike the Grady’s who were chaotic and prone to oversharing. The Dearing’s loved each other there was no denying that, they just showed it differently, rather than throwing affection around to the point of embarrassment.

Claire lead him through the front door where it opened up to, what he could only describe as grand foyer with a large staircase that broke off into two different directions. The place was so sparkling clean there wasn’t even a spec of dust floating in the air. He didn’t even know what type of flooring it was but whatever it was, it was shining and the perfect shade of white which made him hope there was no dirt on the underside of his shoe. Claire was trying to move him through quickly while he smirked at the few pictures he had found sitting on a display table against a dividing wall. One that caught his eye, a tiny Claire very proudly holding up a fat ginger cat that was almost the same length as her tiny body. There was a buzz of noise coming from somewhere in front of them and Claire continued to pulled him through before he could fully take in the grandeur of the living room or further admire Claire in her youth.

“Mom?” Claire called out which echoed further into house.

“Oh Claire Bears here” A soft voice called out from the open doors to their right. Claire Bear, he made sure to make note of that.   

Claire walked out in front of him towards some open French doors that lead to the outside and was right away captured in a hug by a woman wearing heels almost matching Claire’s. They were similar height, the other woman was only just shorter than Claire. The ladies released their hug then his girlfriend moved around the older woman to step further outside to greet the other people that where not yet in his view. The woman he recognised right away as Claire’s mother, Abigail Dearing, she was wearing a figure hugging green dress that was flattering but acceptable for her age, her hair was straight, brown in colour but in some lights Owen was sure would look red and she had a striking resemblance to the actress Jane Seymour.

Abigail noticed Owen standing, maybe slightly hiding behind the wooden frame around the glass door. She smiled at him brightly and approached him with an extended hand, “You must be Owen”

He took her hand and shook it gently while she introduced herself to him and he could detect a familial tone to her voice that could easily match Claire’s and Karen’s, who’d he’d mistaken as Claire over the phone a few times. They said a few words in greeting and she offered to show him through to the outside patio.

The first thing he thought when he stepped outside was it was huge, patio was an understatement, it was more like a pool area of a quality resort. There was a ridiculously sized pool, a nice tiled area around it with lounge chairs and shade umbrellas, what looked like a pool house to their right, behind the pool there was a perfectly cut patch of grass with flowering gardens and if you squinted your eyes just right from the sun beyond all that you could see the waterway.

He didn’t know if it was working but he tried to pretend it was normal, that he was used to house’s of this calibre, the first step may have been to pick his jaw up from where it had dropped. He really wanted to say ‘Holy Shit’ but he swallowed that up and looked to the people scattered in front of him instead.  

Claire’s sister Karen was to the side sitting next to her husband and there seemed to be some sort of mild bickering going on between them. Their two young boys were either side of them, the bigger one was playing on some sort of gaming devise and the younger trying his hardest to get a word in with his parents. Claire was standing a little further back beside an older man, of course it was her father, Robert Dearing. He was taller than Claire by an inch or so, with an incredibly strong frame still in his sixties, strawberry blond hair and sea green eyes  that matched Claire’s hidden behind thick framed glasses.   

Her father stepped forward with an extended hand and the men shook firmly introducing each of themselves. Owen could see Claire watching them from the corner of his eye, she studied their interaction watching closely every move or facial expression her father would make. She waited until their hand shake was released and then walked over to stand beside Owen, slipping her arm around his back when she reached him, “Everyone this is Owen” 

[---]

So far things had been going well, he’d only had to answer questions about his career and photography any further interrogation would happen, Claire had told him, when her mother and sister got him to themselves. Karen was nice, he could tell she was protective but she was nice, and very interested in what he did for a living. He liked her boys too, particularly the younger one who sat wide eyed as Owen talked about photographing bears as they fished for salmon. Zach the older one seemed like a nice kid too, just that little bit harder to crack, but the boy had sized him up and figured he would be a sports guy and eventually they broke the ice with ‘game talk’. He didn’t care to much for Scott, Karen’s husband, he knew Claire wasn’t his biggest fan of resent years and he tried not to let that cloud his judgment but the guy did it all on his own, by adding in comments every now and then that weren’t really necessary to the conversation.

Claire sat beside her mother on the opposite side of the round patio table to him, he noticed her eyes flicking towards the older woman after he would say something like she had with her father, probably looking for approval and finding in ques within her expression to make sure she liked him. Abigail was kind and very motherly as she fussed at pushing Claire’s hair behind her ear and making sure her grandsons were using manners. She asked Owen a lot about his travels and his favourite places he had visited, he could tell she would be easy to get along with which was a big relief in his book. Claire had told him that she most strongly resembled her father, which was true but sitting across from mother and daughter he could notice their similarities, their smiles curved the same way and cheeks rose high when they smiled. He hadn’t really spoken a great deal to her father, Robert had been by the grill most of the time they had been there, turning meat skewers and seasoning mushrooms. Claire had also told him earlier that morning and quite profusely, not offer her father any help, the grill was his territory, and his alone so Owen listen to her instructions and would wait till he joined them to start a conversation with him.

Ten minutes later lunch was ready, the girls had disappeared into the kitchen a few minutes before and returned with bowls of salad and a jug of what looked like freshly made lemonade. Zach and Grey had decided they quite liked Owen in the short time they had known him and sat either side of him, Karen to the left of Grey, Scott beside her then Claire in between her parents, which left Owen with only Zach the eleven-year-old between he and her father. Most of the lunch conversation centred around him, they were curious about his life and family, where he came from and how many siblings he had (which was two by the way).

“Do you and Aunt Claire have sex?” The smallest boy asked sweetly from Owens side just a moment after he had finished telling them about his parents’ boat building business. The boy was looking up at him with such innocent eyes, like he hadn’t just asked the man the most embarrassing and awkward question after just having met his girlfriends’ parents.

Everyone at the table immediately halted what they were doing, forks dangling in front of open mouths and there was a notable noise from Robert who almost choked on the mouthful of lemonade he had just sipped. It was still for a moment, not even the slightest ruffle from the wind, which didn’t seem to phase Grey who’s eyes were still on Owen waiting for an answer. 

“GREY!!” Karen snapped breaking the silence that had probably only been a second but had felt like the longest month. “I’m sorry, they just started teaching health class, he’s been asking everyone”

“It’s okay” Owen chuckled and shot Claire a wary glance before he turned to look at the six-year-old, “I think I’ll get in trouble no matter how I answer that question bud”

Abigail was actually the first one to laugh and soon everyone was chuckling away, Claire’s cheeks noticeably a shade darker, and with the exception of Grey who couldn’t understand why it was funny and Robert who had busied himself with mouthfuls of food. 

[---]

After lunch Karen and Abigail had pulled Claire inside making up something about showing her some new dresses her mother had purchased in Europe which Owen knew was just an excuse for them to go off and gossip. Scott and the two boys where in the pool, beach balls and inflatable toys floating around while they splashed at each other, Owen wanted nothing more to join with the August sun beating down, but instead he stayed at the table an empty seat away from Robert Dearing.

Robert wasn’t actually that intimidating while Owen had been talking to him, but that being said Claire had not once come up in their conversation. He was keen on travel and knew a great deal more about camera’s than Owen had expected. He was easy to talk to once the conversation got flowing and it was nice to see what a family man he was by the jokes he made with his grandsons when he threw back one of their balls that had come flying in his and Owens direction.     

“Do you like golf Owen?” Robert asked him after wrapping up a conversation about Mt Everest, which to Owen seemed to be a make it or break it sort of question. He did remember Claire mentioning something like ‘if you don’t like golf already, you’re going to have to learn to’

“Yeah I don’t mind it, my brothers actually a pretty good golfer, I’m used to getting beaten by him” Owen joked, which was sadly true. He usually played a few rounds with his Dad and younger brother when he went home to visit and most of the time he would come out as the loser.

Robert breathed the slightest laugh, and Owen was grateful for the little bit of pity, but then Claire’s father adjusted the glasses sitting on his nose and his face turned to be more of scrutiny rather than friendly banter, “How about you join me on the course tomorrow, I’m sure there’s things we have to discuss”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think, I love this chapter so please be kind :) !!
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always welcome :)


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter of the story. I will post an epilogue hopefully soon and if there were anything anyone wanted me to write with in this universe you can also find me at @lightwillalwaysbreakthedark.tumblr and I will give it a crack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it is a long time between updates but I wanted to make sure this chapter was just right. It is the final chapter and I really don't want it to end but it's time to get wrapped. Thanks to everyone who has supported this story because I really love it and it's so nice to get encouraging feedback.

‘Things we have to discuss’ was definitely code for something and Owen was pretty sure that meant ‘See if you’re good enough’, which was fair enough he thought at the front of his mind, if he had a daughter he’d probably do the same thing but that only made the coming day that much more intimidating. It wasn’t that he didn’t think he was good enough or anything, he was good for Claire, they fit, he was better with her and she was better with him. But proving ones self wasn’t always the easiest thing in the world. Of course every logical person knew that her parents couldn’t stop them from being together at the end of the day it was their life and they choose to be together, though he did have an overwhelming sense to be approved of, so to speak.  

That is why he was on the edge of paranoia, so much so that he had even turned down Claire’s advances which had never, EVER happen before. His mind stopped when she crawled on top of him the night before and started kissing down his chest he froze with hands pin down his sides and the only thought in his head was not the immediate desire of lust but the thought that Claire’s father was still in the same postcode. The two of them had stayed in the pool house overnight, they hadn’t planned on it but with Owen and Robert golfing the next day and Karen only there for the weekend it was easier to spend the night rather than drive a round trip again.

Owen had never understood pool houses. It was a full sized house, two bedrooms, bathroom and even a kitchen, there was a lounge with a television and a small bar with fancy bottles of alcoholic liquids, it didn’t have anything to do with a pool at all. But it was handy being separated by ten feet of grass and technically not being under the same roof as the rest of the Dearings. Not that they weren’t lovely people but…. THIS WAS ONLY MEANT TO BE A LUNCH. He did wonder for a brief second why Karen’s family hadn’t taken over the pool house, but that was completely overlooked when he dumped their ‘just in case’ over night bags onto the floor and eyed the tequila in the glass cabernet.   

He woke up at five am with the sun already hot through the blinds and to find himself pushed to the very edge of the bed with Claire buried under her pillow with the light blanket they were meant to be sharing wrapped like a burrito around her. He tried to get back to sleep, he really did but after trying and failing to move Claire just enough to fit his whole back flat on the mattress and after his fifth change of position he gave in and got up accepting the early hour. He didn’t know what to do at five am in a house that didn’t belong to him but that is when he eyed his sneakers sitting by the door. His leg was a little stiff and with the looming golf game coming in the hours ahead he laced up.

Owen didn’t know the area at all but he was sure he’d be able to find his way back to their estate, so he set out with the sun following behind him as he ran down the long Hamptons street. While running he listened to a golf channel her found on his phone radio (yes they have those) just to get re-familiarised with the terms and went over a few practise ‘father in-law’ type questions in his head as if he were preparing for a job interview. After forty-five minutes he found his way back sweat dripping from the side burns of his hair that was about a month overdue for a cut. Claire hadn’t moved an inch, the only thing that had changed was her feet were now dangling out of the blanket. Owen couldn’t fight the urge to get out his camera and snap away a few pictures to hide some photo’s away in his secret vault that would save to embarrass her with on a significant birthday.       

He switched on the TV after watching her sleep for ten minutes and a quick rinse off in the shower. Morning shows had changed since he last watch them, and by god they were boring so he was over joyed to find that they had the sports channel ten minutes in. Claire stirred half and an hour later to the sound of her nephews cannon balling into the swimming pool, which had also almost caused Owen to throw the TV remote into the stratosphere. He and Claire, still wiping the sleep from her eyes, stuck their heads out to say hello to Karen who was watching them by the pool but they only chatted for a little while before they went back into the pool house to start getting ready for breakfast that would be served at exactly seven thirty (and apparently you had to be ready for the day, pyjamas where not acceptable) 

“Babe! I need help” Owen sang out as he marched from the bathroom to the bedroom in search of Claire, he found her perched on the end of the queen bed flicking her thumb along the screen of her phone. He stopped in front of her, right leg stuck out a little in front and adjusted the hat on top of his head “Hat?” He asked with raised brows, and waited a beat for her to look up and then took his hat off again, “Or no hat?”

She only looked up for a fleeting second, “It’s going to be sunny so I would say hat”

“This isn’t about practicality Claire, it’s about the **_look_** ” Owen explained with sigh and repeated the motion of putting on and taking off his hat once again.

“Hat” She snickered with her eye’s brows raised and smirk that was doing a terrible job of hiding her amusement, “It’s just a game of golf with my Dad”

Owen’s mouth almost dropped to the floor. She really didn’t get it. 

“It’s not just a game of golf – I’m not even going to try to explain it to you” He huffed and stomped off back to the bathroom were a full-sized mirror was waiting to help him.

[---]

Robert had invited Scott to come to along to the golf course with them, over breakfast to be polite, but much to the disappointment of Owen, Scott declined using the excuse of sore shoulder to get himself out of it. It wasn’t that Owen wanted Scott to come along for his company, he found the guy about as dry as the Sahara but he would serve as an extra body between he and Robert, and at the moment Owen would have taken Jake the Ripper if it meant there was someone else to add to their conversations. 

By eight thirty they had already climbed into Roberts ‘weekend car’ and waved to the ladies who were bidding them goodbye from the archway of the front door and Owen was pretty sure he could see Claire laughing even from all the way down the driveway, that’s when he also noticed that Robert had driving gloves, not gloves for golf, actual leather gloves for the sol purpose of driving.    

The club was only ten minutes away, six streets over and up a long well manicured drive way. Everyone knew Robert at the club, he had his own parking space and he swanned through the reception area like he owned the placed, and Owen actually had the fleeting thought, did he own the place? But he pushed that aside and resumed feeling the exact opposite, following closely behind Robert and feeling like he had slipped through the cracks and he wasn’t actually meant to be there. Robert didn’t give him much time to over think things as he got him talking to one of the up ‘n’ comers who was meant to ‘size him up’ with some good clubs. After getting his gear sorted he found Robert by the juice bar in deep conversation with three men around the same age as Robert whom were all decked out in pristine golf outfits and combed back silver hair, he introduced Owen as ‘Claire’s partner’ which was a good sign, much better than just ‘Claire’s friend’.

At exactly nine am Robert teed up and took the first shot of their eighteen holes, lining up the ball just right, hitting it perfectly down the middle and the ball bounced just a metre from the hole. Owen on the other hand had a tendency too absolutely belt the living day lights out of the ball which usually meant it would end up, in the rough or sand trap, and his first swing did so meaning he would have to take his next shot from practically the next hole over. This happen two more times in a row, where Robert would easily hit it into the hole in two shots under Par and Owen would do it in two shots over. About half of it was Owen being genuinely bad and the other half was Owen deliberately missing shots just because he felt the need to let Robert win (Which he would do without Owen deliberately missing anyway).

Owen took his turn to chip in an easy put, just a metre in front of him and right inline, his chest puffed out and he squinted his eye just a little to line up the put. He tapped the ball and both he and Robert watch the ball roll towards it’s target.

“You really are bad at this” Robert laughed when the ball curved around by only a slither and just missed the hole.

“I have a pretty messed up knee” Owen sighed and slumped his way over to tap the ball into the hole, which finally after spinning around the rim three times the ball dropped down out of sight, “Just putting that out there”

By the sixth hole Owen was still waiting for the interrogation, Robert hadn’t said much at all really, he was focused on hitting the ball and driving his golf buggy to the next hole. It lulled Owen into a false sense of security, and slowly he began to feel like he wasn’t actually going to be put under a lie detector…. That was until the eighth hole.

“So you and Claire. How serious is this?” Robert asked Owen very bluntly just at the very moment that Owen swung his club towards the tee.

The force of his swing almost made Owen spin around in a full circle, but thankfully he controlled himself enough by the time the iron was swung down to turn himself around like a normal composed man. It was too good to be true, the question had to have been coming, luckily he had those pre-made answers floating round in his head. But even with that his heart was thumping so much that it could probably be heard two states over.   

Owen took a beat to swallow his … well whatever it was that he was feeling, (because he didn’t even know what it was) and looked Robert in the eye, “I’d like to think we’re pretty serious Sir, we’ve been together for almost a year”

Robert took his words with a nod, “I know, and I trust her judgment. But she’s my baby girl and this here is my job” Robert said with a raised eye and hand gestures pointing between himself and Owen. “Because you know the last guy she brought home - ”

Oh that. Owen knew where that was going, and cut Robert off before he could remind Owen any further of … that.

“I’m nothing like that man, I would never do anything to jeopardise my relationship with your Daughter. She makes me happy more than anyone ever has, and there is no way I would do anything to lose that”

“I appreciate that Owen. I can see that you and Claire are good for each other, but I’m still her father and it’s my job to protect her, so you be a man that stands by those words, because if I could get my hands on Chase, I’d -” Robert cut himself off this time, he looked past Owen and over the rest of the course and Owen was sure he was probably rattling of a list of things he could do to cause the man some pain that caused his daughter so much.

Owen left Robert alone in his own head for a few seconds then cleared his throat and said, “I punched him… Chase that is… I punched Chase”. Robert turned his head towards Owen and blinked a few times and without speaking looked him up and down, in a some what similar way to how Claire had when he told her. Roberts eyes locked onto Owens and without saying anything he stuck out his hand for Owen to shake.  

[---]

Claire knew by the fourth street they took that they weren’t going to where Owen had said he made reservations. The cab driver should have turned left but instead they turned right. The restaurant they were meant to be going to was on the completely opposite side of the city. It was their anniversary, they had debated what day to actually celebrate it, Owen said it was the day they met, but Claire said it had to be the day they made their relationship official which neither of them could agree on so they settled for the day of their first date. Which was today, a whole twelve months had past which was kind of mind blowing but at the same time for Claire it was hard to remember a time before Owen. Before him she came home to an empty apartment, cold and alone the television her only company, but now she had him, someone to snuggle up to and keep her warm, to make her laugh and roll her eyes all at the same time. Life was better now than this time last year, she felt full and so happy that her smile could probably light up the Chrysler Building if there was a power outage.       

The taxi drove a few more blocks over and turned left and then right before they pulled up to the side walk and the cabbie asked Owen for the fee that they owed. It took her a minute to figure out where they were, they were on the west side, she knew that but with the street bustling with people it was hard to tell where their destination actually was. Owen got out of the taxi first and dashed around to the curb to open the taxi door for her. His hand reached inside to help her step out of the still running cab which she took happily and her heels clicked right away on the concrete sidewalk. Their hands still locked together he took the lead and pulled her along the side walk, past two restaurants and a small convenience store till he pulled her through the next open door.  

Once inside Claire knew exactly where they were. She should have recognised the building right away, from outside and even from the street, she had spent so many months on the phone with the building manager. It was the building of the photo shoot, the one from a year ago, the one where she and Owen had met. He should have warned her about this, given her a little heads up, because her heart was almost coming up through her throat and her eyes were fighting so hard not to let a tear drop to her cheek. He smiled at her the corner of his mouth pulled into a coy grin and he pulled her a little closer to peck her lips soft and warm. His hand reached out to find the button for the elevator while their fingers still laced together, and the metal doors opened up for them right away.

She let him pull her into the elevator and she landed pressed closer to his chest with his arm around her shoulder and a few kisses dropped into her hair. She didn’t notice what button on the elevator he pressed but she didn’t need to because she knew there was a restaurant located on the second floor. The doors closed on them and the machine carried them up to the first floor and then again to the second. But it didn’t stop and they were at the third floor before she could even question it.

“Ow-” Claire started but her lips where captured by his in a proper kiss this time. Tongues, teeth and loss of breath and by the time they finally came up for air there was a ding and the evaluator doors pulled open.

They were on the roof top, the function room that opened up to the open air was bare, no one in site and only lit by the twinkle of fairy lights. He pulled her through the room and she followed just a step behind him, her feet were doing the work for her while her mind tried to catch up. The fresh night air hit them as they stepped into the open space making the loose strands of both of their hair flicker around their cheeks. In the middle there was a blanket laid out with two hefty cushions, a picnic basket and a few battery powered lanterns sitting on top. She recognised all of it from either home or a friend which meant he had to personally haul them all to the top of the roof and set them up just right.    

“Owen” Claire breathed as her eyes travelled over the picnic sitting waiting for them, “You didn-”

He didn’t let her finish but pressed his lips to hers again, looking deep into her eyes with his sparkling green ones. “I wanted to”

He had thought of everything, plates, cutlery, napkins, even a bottle opener and he went about getting it ready while she stared at him, reminding herself to blink every now and then because her mind was too busy trying to comprehend how she had gotten so lucky. He pulled out a bag from their favourite take away, Owen put his favourite burger onto a plate and did the same with Claire’s and some sweet potato fries sat in a bowl between them.    

They ate their picnic dinner and sipped on their cold beers, he made her laugh until she almost choked and they both chuckled over Owen and Roberts golf game. The sound of the city bustled below them but the rooftop was surprisingly peaceful, the dull light from the lanterns lit them up with a soft glow the blanket beneath them was soft enough that the ground didn’t feel hard beneath them.

When their meals where done, Owen packed the remnants away into the picnic basket not letting her help when the ramekin plates clanged at the bottom of the cane basket. He cracked them each a fresh beer and laid down with his head on the edge of one of the over sized cushions to look up at the stars. Claire followed laying down to his right. The sky seemed darker and the stars brighter than usual, there were the flicking lights of an aeroplanes wing high above them and a soft hum of car horns below them. But Claire could still hear every breath that left Owens mouth.  
  
“That one is yours” Owen whispered pointing his finger up to a bright star in the sky.

“What?” Claire asked quizzically, amused at his childish glee.

He tilted his head toward her with a dimpled cheek, “That’s your star, It’s the biggest and brightest one up there”

“Well if that’s my star then that ones yours” She chuckled pointing to the star next to the one Owen had claimed for her.

Owen didn’t say anything in return but rolled over onto his shoulder and pressed a gentle kiss on her lips and after they parted he rolled to lay on his back once again. They laid happily in silence, Claire’s ears still tuned into the rhythm of his breathing. His fingers gently played with hers where they lay in between them and she could feel his thumb running over her palm. He played softly running his fingers across hers, intertwining them and then releasing them again, while their shoulders stayed pressed together. After he intertwined and released their fingers for a third time, Claire felt something cool hit the tip of her finger and then two of his fingers began to slide a thin and metal bar up to the top of the finger next to her left pinkie. There was no mistaking what it was, even without looking down at her hand, Claire knew. She froze to be completely still, while her heart was nearly beating out of her chest and her breath caught in her throat. He was as silent as she was but his hand managed to run up her arm and land on her left cheek, softly he rest his fingers under his chin and turned her to face him with her eye’s already pooling with tears before he had even began to speak.  

“Being a photographer people always talk to me about moments, that life is a series of them, some that define you and most that just go by without you taking much notice of them. Well I want to spend all of my moments with you, I want to be with you for the moments that define me and I want to be with you in the moments that just pass me by. I didn’t know my heart was big enough to love someone like this until I met you and I would really like for you to call me your husband and that I will be next to you for all the moments that define you, because I love you Claire Dearing and I want nothing more in this world than to marry you”   

Her breathing had gotten heavy and the sound of her heart was thumping even louder in her chest. Her cheeks where lined with a dampened stream from where tears were rolling out of her shinning eyes. He had tears too, small ones caught at the edge of his eye just threatening to fall onto his cheeks. She couldn’t speak, and even if she wanted to she couldn’t because the lump in her throat blocked any words from coming out.

Claire kissed him hard on the lips tasting the salt from a tear that had landed with a splash between their lips. She shuffled her body closer to his chest and he welcomed her so they could now be pressed together. She reached for his arm and pulled it over her so his hand was resting on her back and he slipped his other one under her head so she was leaning on him like a pillow. She kissed him again and then for a third time, where she then rested her head in the crook between his neck and chest. She could feel him press kisses to her hair and then she nodded to let him know that her answer was yes, even though it had not been a question the nod signified that she felt the same way. They stayed in their embrace, holding each other close for what could have been a life time and then Claire felt the vibration of a laugh bubbling up from his stomach.

“Why are you laughing?” She sniffed through the tears that still.

“Are you going to look at your ring?” He asked with a laugh.

With all his poetic words and everything her body was trying to do to cope with the sudden burst of emotions there was one thing she had forgotten to do and that was the simple task of looking at the ring he had just slipped onto her finger. She freed her shaky hand from between his and her chest and the light from a lantern caught onto her new piece of jewellery with a shining glint. Blinking her tears away she saw it, it was simple and beautiful, it had to be an antique with three clear diamonds and a thin gold band that fit around her snug without the need of re-sizing.

The lump in her throat started to clear and she managed to get out a few words, “How’d I get you?”

His eye brows raised and his nosed crinkled the way she remembered it did the first time he ever laughed with her, “Well Mrs Grady, I think we were both in the right place at the right time”

Owens mouth found hers and his lips tickled against hers as another laugh rumbled up from his chest. Claire could have stayed there forever with her body snaked around his and their lips pressed together, but she couldn’t help but smile when they broke apart and she looked into his eyes with an optimistic glint, “Dearing - Grady”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is... I hope you liked it. 
> 
> Look out for the epilogue coming soon! Comments and Kudos are always welcome.


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last part :) It picks up a little into Claire and Owens future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's bitter sweet to me that this story is over, but I really hope you all enjoy it!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has left kudos and comments on this fic, it means a lot to know people are enjoying and appreciating your work.

Claire and Owen Grady had mastered the art of chaos. Their lives were a constant juggling act of private and professional and this morning was no exception. The world didn’t seem to care that this day happened to be a special one. That this day just so happened to be a celebration of four years, four years to the day that they said I do. That day, their day had been perfect. The two of them with their closest friends and family collected together to share their love and the promise of the rest of their lives. They said their vows through shaky breaths and pauses to pad their eyes and gathered around an open fire with the ones they held most dear, Owens guitar sitting in his lap and laughter surrounding them. They had shiny new rings on their fingers and suddenly their future was all so real and real it was.    
  
“Owen!!” Claire screeched when the click of her heels came to a halt at the end of the stair case. “I went upstairs for two seconds! You’re meant to watch them!” She had gone upstairs to the mezzanine level of their loft to fetch the magazine proof she had thrown on the armchair in an exhausted state the night before, leaving her husband in charge for less than a minute. Less than a minute though, was enough time for her fourteen-month-old daughter to cover herself in the yogurt she was meant to have been eating for breakfast. A tiny girl sat in her highchair perfectly dressed for the day ahead and now covered head to toe in vanilla yogurt, with the added delight of banana chunks sliding down her cheeks. The yogurt had covered a remarkable distance, spreading across the dining table, small portions were trickling onto the floor and from the corner of her eye Claire could see her son pointing out some painted across his chest.

Her husband, the man reasonable for half of those children’s DNA and for watching the behaviour of those children was over in the kitchen two steps and a countertop away from the mess, hiding his face in a bowl of musli.

They had been told countless times of the frustration that came with parenthood, to expect yogurt filled messes and spilt milk, but they were always reassured that it was far out-weighed by the joy they would bring and it was for the most part, but it was when you found the yogurt filled messes that it was hard to remember. From the moment the stick had turned blue family members from every corner weighed in with their advice. Owen let it wash off him, like water off a ducks back. His impending fatherhood not a worry in his mind but, Claire didn’t share his ease. The life growing under her skin entered their lives a little sooner than she would have liked and her lack of maternal instincts worried every one of her bones. Her introduction to motherhood wasn’t a steady one either, being hospitalised for acute morning sickness and set on bed rest for most of her third trimester sent her body and her mind into sheer panic. But then a son, her son, their son a little human that they had made together was placed into her arms, ten perfect little fingers and ten perfect little toes. She didn’t know it was possible to feel such love, it was like an overpowering wave that had only hit her and her Owen and now their whole existence had changed.

As soon as they had brought him home, life settled in around them like their son had been with them forever. Even though they were still unpacking boxes from their recent move and somewhat finding their feet as newly-ish weds, he fit into their schedule easily, a perfectly sized bundle that they could cart here and there. He was a dream too, he slept easily and was content to sit in his swing or pram while his parents worked, or did house work or more often than not, just stare at him. He gave an extra layer to their lives, one that was hard to even articulate and because of that it didn’t take them long to realise that they had room for one more in their little family.  

Claire fell pregnant easily like she had the first time, which oddly worried her. Two babies was more than enough, she didn’t want any ‘whoops’ to occur in their future. The second time round was much the same, Claire spent time in hospital with terrible morning sickness and bed rest towards the end. It was harder the second time though, with Claire feeling unwell the whole nine months and a baby not only growing with in her but one in her arms who was looking for attention. Owen was at her mercy while her cravings ran wild and she was too tired to sooth the baby through the night. They found out they were having a girl by accident, they had planned to keep it a surprise but when they went in for a routine scan the technician let it slip. Claire honestly didn’t care either way, but she didn’t miss the tear that caught in the corner of Owen’s eye. The news spread through their families like wildfire, Claire‘s parents were over the moon to finally have a granddaughter and soon gifts wrapped in pink paper started filling their house before the baby was even born. Then two weeks earlier than planned, catching everyone in the middle of the night they welcomed their beautiful daughter before their son was even two.

“Indigo we had a deal” Owen chuckled through a mouthful of breakfast grains. Their baby Indigo, had turned one only a few months back and discovered in that time the power of making a mess, tipping things over and watching her parents fuss around her was her greatest form of amusement.

“Owen I don’t have time to get them dressed again, we go to print in a week do you realise how busy I am?” Claire huffed, collecting Indigo from her highchair careful not to get vanilla yogurt on her pristine outfit. (She would prove to everyone in her life that you could still have impeccable style while you were a mother of two small children.) Owen did know how busy she was, every three months their lives were sent into hyper drive due to the realise of yet another issue. He was still amused though, he didn’t know how you couldn’t be, their baby chuckling away with yogurt dripping from her strawberry coloured hair. He loved the unexpected obstacles life threw at them, relishing in the surprises their tiny house mates threw their way. Claire didn’t, she liked control and order but she was learning quickly that that was no longer a part of her life.

“Everything will be okay sweetheart it’s just yogurt” Owen smiled with a little bit of  milk, trickling down his chin.

“Don’t sweetheart me, this is your fault” She snapped while flicking off her heels and  marching around the kitchen counter, her hair bouncing with her forceful stride.

“Dada don’t make Mommy’s mad come out” The little voice of their son squeaked from where he trotted along side his mother. Wilder was nearing three and he was keen to point out everything he was discovering and very keen to share when his sister had been the culprit and not him. He was angelic bright sea green eyes, rosie cheeks and a mop of blond hair, it was near impossible to hold back ones snickers at his comments no matter the level of ones annoyance.

Both of their children were such a perfect mix of the two of them, they could never full decide who looked more like who. Family members and friends would point out and say ‘Oh he just looks so much like his Daddy’ and then the next minute Wilder would pull a face that was nearly a carbon copy of Claire. It was the same with Indigo, although they did have some distinctive features, Wilders eyes where identical to Claire’s where Indi’s were a magnificent shade of blue practically aqua a result of the mix of genes, her smile though that was all Owen. Indigo’s hair was red like Claire’s, but a few more streaks of blond could be found in her, as Owen put it ‘LEGO Hair’ (as he likened it’s current length to the clip on hair LEGO figures are famous for) with a few curls rounding it at the bottom. Wilders mop of blond locks curled ever so slightly at the bottom as well, it was just as Owens had been at his age, but Claire was certain the blond would never fade out to dark.

“Trust me bud I don’t want Mommy’s mad to come out” Owen chuckled when the three of them had reached the centre of the kitchen. Claire red faced, Wilder wide eyed and Indigo snickering while yogurt slid further down her body.

Owen had a shoot that day, one that would take him away for the night, Claire had to sign off on the final edit of Tribe and the kids were heading off to Kindergarten. Claire had packed their school bags the night before, and Owen made their lunches that were now waiting in the fridge. Claire had dressed them perfectly, Wilder’s dinosaur shirt fresh from the wash and Indigo’s overalls brand new from the week before. Indigo’s hair had been pulled into two tiny pig tails that sat on the top of her head like antlers, and Wilders hair was combed smooth, which all seemed to now be unravelling. They were already late which made Claire’s eyes narrow, but in these times is when she was most grateful for Owen. He made everyone calm, his easy energy wrapped around them making it easier to breath steadily, even if her insides were still bubbling over.

At least Wiley could get away with just a change of shirt but Indigo, Indigo was sticky and in much need of a bath. They moved in unison like it was a pre-trained drill, Owen started to fill the kitchen sink with warm water, it was deep and often used to wash their children when they were tiny babies, but they hadn’t done it in a while, since it was much easier washing them both in the larger bathtub across the hall. He fetched the body wash from the bathroom, while Claire undressed the dairy covered baby and tried very carefully not to get any yogurt on her own clothes, though her blazer had been removed for safe keeping.

The sink didn’t take that long to fill and as soon as the running water was turned off Claire plonked the baby down into the soapy water. When sitting the bubbles and water came to just under Indigos shoulders, she blinked a few times at suddenly being shoved into the temperate water but only a second past and she was splashing away. Indi was such a water baby she loved baths and splashing in Nanna and Poppy’s pool and when she had started to toddle they had to be very quick to keep her away from rain puddles. While Wilder hadn’t been that phased by it Indigo would let you know her displeasure when torn away from any body of water.

Owen lifted Wiley to sit on the bench beside the sink, sans his yogurt covered shirt and still free from the fresh one Claire had fetched from the clean laundry basket that sat in the lounge room half folded and half a dishevelled mess.

“How did you get it in your ear?” Claire sighed after running a face washer over Indigo’s cheeks to find yet more yogurt in unwanted places.

Wiley who was looking on from the left, leaned his little body over as far as he could to inspect his sister and drew back with a figure pointed and face smug, “Food only goes in your mouth”

“That’s right” Owen smirked with a quick glance to Claire.

Claire shook her head with a gentle laugh and handed the little boy the spare face washer asking for his help, which he thought was wonderful. With a puffed out chest he dipped the washer into the water and when fully soaked, slapped it roughly on the top of his sisters head. Indi clearly shocked by the wet cloth on her head looked to Claire with wide and puzzled eyes but didn’t whimper and happily went back to wiggling her legs in the water once the cloth was removed. Quickly Owens hand joined Wilders and he gently guided the smaller boys hand to help wash away the yogurt on Indigos skin. Indigo laughed from her belly as she splashed at the water and Wilder joined her when Owen discarded the washer and fixed bubbles around his jaw to look like a beard.   

They stayed like that longer than they should have, as the time ate away from their busy day.   Time was forgotten as Owen dropped a kiss here and there to Claire’s cheek while their children laughed from deep in their bellies and through to their shoulders. But when it was done and the children were dressed, bags were slung over their shoulders and the house keys were dangling from Owens fingers a smile was plastered across all of their faces, one that wasn’t there half an hour before.

“You were right” Claire grinned, with a clean Indigo sitting on her hip and playing with the silver necklace around her neck. 

Owen pulled the door closed behind them and turned his shoulder to her with a chuckle, “Oh yeah, about what?”

Claire paused for a moment with a sparkle in her eye as she watched her husband reach down to pick up their son with just one arm, “They were a good idea”

It took her till then to realise she was grateful for the mess that met her at the bottom of the stairs. If it hadn’t been for a yogurt covered toddler she would have missed the extra kisses from her husband and the cuddles from her babies, she would have missed the extra thirty minutes to soak up her family and instead be stuck in her office at work. This is what they had, the four Grady’s of New York City mother, father, son and daughter, joy and chaos all rolled into one. This is more than she could have asked for when a handsome stranger walked onto her magazines photoshoot and boy was she grateful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I REALLY hope you liked where Claire and Owen ended up!! Because I do. 
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always welcome. Thank you again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it :)


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